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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/storyoffoods01cris 



THE 

STORY OF FOODS 



By 

FORREST CRISSEY 

with an introduction by Douglas C. Ridgley, Professor of 
Geography, Illinois State Normal University 



RAND McNALLY & COMPANY 

Chicago New York 






Copyright, 191 7, by 
Forrest Crissey 



<\ 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Thanks are due to the Saturday Evening Post for permission to 
use portions of certain copyrighted articles originally published in 
that journal. 

The author is especially indebted to the various bureaus and 
offices of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United 
States Department of Commerce for cooperation in furnishing both 
data and critical assistance. In the United States Department of Agri- 
culture he is under particular obligation to Leon M. Estabrook, Nat C. 
Murray, and George K. Holmes, of the Bureau of Crop Estimates, 
to Dr. M. E. Pennington, Chief of the Food Research Laboratories 
and to Dr. O. E. Baker, Agriculturist. Much invaluable assistance 
has been given by Dr. E. E. Pratt, Chief of the Bureau of Foreign and 
Domestic Commerce, and Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Commissioner of Fish- 
eries. George F. Mitchell, Supervising Tea Expert of tne United States 
Treasury Department, has placed the author under great obligations 
by his unstinted cooperation. 

From William Harper Dean, of The Country Gentleman, Dr. Mary E. 
Pennington, Norris H. Reed, B. W. Snow, W. F. French, Harry Snowden 
Stabler, and Adolph Kruhm has come assistance in kind and quantity 
amounting to collaboration. 

The authorities which the author has consulted, with especial 
benefit, are the Grocers' Encyclopedia, edited by Artemas Ward, and The 
Story of Wheat by William C. Edgar. 

To name all those actively connected with the commerce of foods 
to whom the author is indebted for information is impossible. 




OCT 17 1917 



A477080 



THE CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Introduction 7 

CHAPTER 

I. The World's Greatest Need ...... 9 

II. The Journeys of Foods 17 

III. Wheat 36 

IV. Other Grains 60 

V. Breakfast Foods 78 

VI. Fruits 87 

VII: Vegetables and Their Seeds 125 

VIII. Milk and Butter 146 

IX. Cheese 164 

X. Honey 187 

XL Poultry 194 

XII. Meats ,201 

XIII. The World's Commerce in Meats . . . .228 

XIV. Vegetable Oils 238 

XV. Free Food from Many Waters 247 

XVI. Fish from Home and Foreign Waters . . . 259 

XVII. The Handling of Fresh Fish 277 

XVIII. The Story of the Salmon ■ . . .282 

XIX. Oysters 299 

XX. Canned Foods . 313 

XXI. Dried Fruits . 341 

XXII. Condensed Foods 358 

XXIII. Coffee 366 

XXIV. Tea— the World's Social Drink 378 

XXV. Table Drinks 402 

XXVI. Nuts 412 

XXVII. Sugar 428 

XXVIII. Spices 442 

XXIX. Salt 457 

XXX. Tempting Table Delicacies . . . . . .463 

XXXI. What the Wholesaler Does 475 

XXXII. What the Retailer ! Does .500 

The Index 516 



A LIST OF THE MAPS 

PAGE 

Ocean trade routes over which ships of commerce carry the world's 
food supplies 20 

The wheat areas of the world, with chief lines of export ... 38 

The great cereal-producing area of the United States, with wheat 
area shown by darker shading 62 

The world's principal fruits and where they are grown ... 94 

Dairy products of the United States, with rank of each state in 
value of cheese, butter, and condensed milk 148 

The dairy trade of Europe. Exporting and importing areas of 
dairy products, with chief lines of export 176 

The countries from which come the workers to the Stock Yards 
and Packingtown 204 

The world's fishing grounds. Where the principal fish are caught, 
with chief lines of export 266 

The world's chief tea, coffee, and cocoa exporting and importing 
countries 380 

Spices and nuts. Where the ivorld gets its principal spices and 
nuts 446 



THE INTRODUCTION 

The Story of Foods, whose author has for many years 
written on industrial, commercial, and agricultural 
topics for the millions of readers of the Saturday Eve- 
ning Post, is a vivid presentation of a subject of daily 
interest to every pupil and teacher in school, as well 
as to every other member of the household and the 
community. 

This graphic story deals especially with the human 
agencies concerned in the production, preparation, and 
distribution of foods. It tells many things concerning 
our ordinary foods about which we have often won- 
dered. We are given a glimpse into the large business 
enterprises engaged in making it possible for our grocer 
to furnish us with a wonderful variety of foods gathered 
from all parts of the world. 

The Story of Foods will be of distinct service to two 
groups of pupils: geography classes and domestic sci- 
ence classes. It will supplement the textbook at many 
places throughout the entire course in geography in the 
elementary school. It will supply domestic science 
classes with abundant information on the methods of 
handling foods as a commercial undertaking, as well 
as on their production, and thus give a comprehensive 
world view of foods and their geographical and indus- 
trial background. 

Mr. Crissey's book has an important function to 
perform in the school, but it also deserves a place as a 
working handbook in the home, for it holds a rich 
fund of practical information, interesting and instruc- 
tive to all who would understand how the daily table 
of the family of moderate means affords to-day a 
greater variety of foods than did the tables of kings 
and princes of centuries past. 

Douglas C. Ridgley 

Illinois State Normal University 
Normal, Illinois 




Kwotf 



THE STORY OF FOODS 

Chapter I 

THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED 

"We eat to live." Food is the first demand of 
physical life. There are climates in which it is 
possible to live without clothing or shelter, but the 
necessity for nourishment is the same the world over. 
Neither man, beast, nor any other living thing can 
withstand this demand for more than a few days. 

For this reason the most important question we 
can ask about any country is: What does it yield 
to the world's food supply? The land that gives 
little or no food for the support of the human race 
is too barren to claim the interest of an intelligent 
man or woman, boy or girl. The search for gold 
and precious stones has been shrouded in romance, 
but this line of exploration is of little significance 
when compared with that which ransacks the most 
remote corners of the earth for foods with which to 
nourish mankind more generously, wholesomely, and 
pleasingly. 

The bill-of-fare and the map. It would be hard 
to suggest a more fascinating pastime than that of 
taking our daily bill-of-fare apart to learn where 
every element of it has come from, how far it has 
traveled, and by what strange and devious ways it 
has journeyed to reach our table. Apply this sug- 
gestion to every bit of food served in your home for 
one week and you will learn more real geography than 



10 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



in a month of memorizing meaningless statements 
which seem wholly removed from your personal 




Brown Bros. 

Loading railway cars with bananas brought out from a Costa Rica 

plantation. The banana, the most prolific fruit plant known, 

is grown over a large and increasing area in Costa Rica 

experience. Certainly the food you eat comes close 
to your daily life; and to trace to their sources the 
things that nourish you is to show only a reasonable 
degree of human curiosity. 

Altogether the most interesting way in which to 
get a grasp of the distant background of the foods 
that come to your plate and of the many remote and 
mysterious regions of the globe which contribute to 
your meal, is to spread a map of the world before you. 
Then with a penciled line connect the spot that 
stands for your home and that from which hails 
each article of food on your table. Now, if you 
would realize still more vividly the pains the food 
merchants have taken in order to set before you an 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED 11 

ever-increasing variety of tempting delicacies, get 
another world map on which are marked the ocean 
pathways (see page 20) traveled by ships of com- 
merce. Then trace on this map the trade routes 
over which each food element has been brought 
to this country. 

In this connection the term "tempting delicacies" 
is used deliberately, because, if you follow this inter- 
esting line of inquiry, you will soon learn that no 
other country in the world is capable of producing 
so generous a supply of the real food necessities as 
the United States. There is scarcely a single food 
in all that may be mentioned which is not produced 
in large quantities in this country. Or, to put the 
situation in the simplest terms possible, scarcely any 
food is furnished by other countries that we could 
not do without. But if the food merchants should 
suddenly stop drawing on the distant regions of the 
earth for our table supplies, we would be brought 
to a quick and keen realization of the service they 
are rendering the public. For we would miss a multi- 
tude of delicious things which make our meals not 
only more tempting but also a great deal more 
wholesome. 

We can never appreciate what the world-searching 
industry of the food merchants means to us unless 
we keep in mind the fact that we demand variety 
in our food as well as in our work and our play. 
Also narrow living is likely to mean unwholesome 
living, and the human stomach as well as the human 
mind abhors and rebels against monotony. There- 
fore, he who adds a new and agreeable food to the 
list from which we are able to choose our fare does 
us a distinct service. 



12 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The foods of yesterday. It is almost impossible 
to realize how narrow and limited was the range of 




The twentieth-century market with its tremendous and varied supplies 

brings a keen realization of how extremely limited in 

variety were the "foods of yesterday" 

diet in the days of our grandfathers and great grand- 
fathers. But we need not go back to the pioneer 
days of this country to illustrate the meager variety 
of foods with which the average family larder was 
stocked. The day book of a retail grocer located 
in a midwestern town shows that the entire list of 
imported articles of food sold by him in the year 
1862 was as follows: coffee, tea, figs, mustard, 
pepper, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, 
lemons, oranges, sago, prunes, raisins, and almonds. 
This day book also shows that the principal line of 
foods then handled by the country storekeeper would 
add to this list only eggs, molasses, dried apples, 
dried peaches, cranberries, potatoes, sugar, vinegar, 
saleratus, butter, cheese, crackers, lard, smoked 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED 



13 



halibut, whitefish, dried herrings, rice, syrup, salt, 
cream of tartar, beans, rye coffee, peanuts, beef, 
veal, pork, lemon extract, onions, cabbage, turnips, 
and native nuts. 

Possibly this storekeeper kept other foods, but if 
so, his charge accounts for two years give no evidence 
of that fact. How strange a stock of goods confined 
to these items would appear in contrast with the 
wide range of articles required by the modern retail 
grocery! A man living in eastern New York 
declares that he remembers when a pound of loaf 




Courtesy of " Youth's Companion." Original by C. D. Hubbard 

The pioneer storekeeper's busy day. An interior scene of a grocery 
store in our great grandfather's days 

sugar lasted his family a year. As a schoolboy, his 
luncheon was " hasty pudding" — cornmeal mush — 



14 THE STORY OF FOODS 

and milk. In his boyhood on a New York state farm 
his family lived almost entirely upon the products of 
their immediate neighborhood, the principal things 
purchased being tea, pepper, salt, and cinnamon. 

The foods of to-day. Contrast with this narrow 
and monotonous diet the range of delicacies now 
available to the American family of average means, 
and to the housekeeper who carefully considers her 
outlay for foods, while giving her family a generous 
variety of things good to eat. Possibly the best 
way to make you realize the wonderful expansion in 
the range of our food supply would be to repeat the 
statement of a large food jobber who recently said: 

"The cost book of the smaller inland grocery 
jobber to-day contains from 5,000 to 15,000 sep- 
arate and distinct items, while there are more than 
40,000 items listed in the cost book of this house, 
which does a nation-wide business. A majority of 
articles in that list are brought in from foreign 
countries; and, measured in dollars, we do a larger 
volume of business in imported foodstuffs than we 
do in domestic goods. We are food explorers, ran- 
sacking the entire earth for the things with which 
to satisfy the cultivated appetite of the American 
consumer. The stock in the most ordinary country 
grocery store is brought from the four corners of 
the earth. 

"The only way in which to get a vivid and graphic 
realization of the economic service which the whole- 
saler in this line renders to the consumer is to try 
to imagine what would be the food situation in this 
country if every grocery jobbing house were sud- 
denly struck out of existence, together with all of 
their accumulations of food supplies. For all 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED 15 

practical purposes we should then be thrown back 
to the old, crude system of the earliest pioneer days, 



LlLl f' 




j* 



Contrast the stock of goods carried by a storekeeper of our grandfather's 

days with the amazing variety found in the stock of an 

inland country grocer of to-day 

when each community lived almost entirely on the 
narrow range of foods that could be produced locally. 
But such a situation would be wonderfully illumi- 
nating. It would reveal as nothing else could the 
position of the wholesaler of foodstuffs in the eco- 
nomic scheme of modern living. Also it would show 
most vividly how immense and complex is the fabric 
of modern food demands — a fabric woven of threads 
drawn from every part of the civilized and semi- 
civilized earth." 

In view of these facts, the statement that the 
study of geography from the standpoint of the din- 
ing table and the food store becomes a fascinating 



16 THE STORY OF FOODS 

pastime, seems only too true. When you meet 
every kind of food that passes your lips with the 
question, " Where did it come from and what has 
been its history, its travels, and its demands upon 
the labor of mankind?" you are in a way to learn 
much about geography, government, and economics 
and to learn it with little conscious effort. 



Chapter II 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 

From producer to consumer. There is scarcely 
any chapter in the history of foods more fascinating 
than an account of their travels. Probably the 
most graphic way of showing you the wonders of 
carrying foods is to take you on a "food journey." 
Only a little experience in following foods from 
their source to the consumer is necessary to prove 
it an interesting game, one abounding in surprises. 

From tea garden to tea table. First let us follow 
a shipment of tea from the tea gardens to the tea 




Hauling tea to the railway station in Ceylon 

table. While we are doing this, we shall see through 
how many hands this tea passes on its long journey. 

17 



IS 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



This will also give us a good idea of the great amount 
of work involved in preparing a cup of tea for us. 




Loading tea at the dock with the aid of a hand derrick 

The Ceylon natives who pick and carry tea in 
large baskets to the curing stations are the first 
people to handle it. After the tea is cured it is 
put into chests or boxes and carried in oxcarts to 
the railway station, whence it is borne by train to 
Colombo. Here it is again handled by other natives 
and placed in a warehouse, where it remains until a 
foreign buyer purchases it. More than likely this 
buyer will be an Englishman who will first care- 
fully test the tea. 

Next it is hauled to the dock and loaded into small 
boats with the aid of a hand derrick. Then by 
means of a steam winch, it is lifted from the small 
boats or "lighters" and lowered into the hold of 
a steamship. In this stage of its journey it is 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 19 

handled by sailors who have shipped under the 
English flag. 

In all probability, this steamer is built with 
especial reference to the needs of the tea trade, its 
hold being divided into many small rooms or com- 
partments in which the tea is stored. This arrange- 
ment reduces the breakage of chests and the damage 
from other causes. 

The steamship now carries the tea to Liverpool, 
England, where it is unloaded by the sailors and 
English stevedores or dock laborers. The tea is next 
inspected by an English government inspector, then 
hauled by motor truck or wagon to a large warehouse, 
where it is again handled by English laborers. 

The tea remains in this warehouse until sold. 
Perhaps an American importer inspects the shipment 
and buys a hundred chests of it. Then this special 
lot of Ceylon tea is again hauled by motor truck or 
wagon to the dock, loaded aboard a large steamer, 
and carried swiftly across the Atlantic Ocean. At 
New York, American dock workers unload it and it 
is transferred by a motor truck to a bonded ware- 
house. A bonded warehouse is a building belonging 
to the United States government, where merchandise 
subject to a federal revenue tax is kept until it is 
found to comply with our laws regulating its admit- 
tance, and the tax paid. After the tea has been 
tested by the government tea inspector, it is trans- 
ferred to the building of the American importer. 
There an electric elevator carries it to an upper floor, 
where it is probably packed in small boxes or tins 
and labeled by American girls. It is then placed 
in the storerooms until sold to retailers. 

A portion of the tea is sold to an out-of-town 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 



21 



customer. The shipment is sent down to the base- 
ment, loaded on tiny freight cars, and carried under 




The basement shipping floor of a great A?nerican importing house 

ground by an electric engine to the freight depot of 
the railway which is to deliver it to the country 
customer. There it is shifted by freight handlers 
into a box car of mixed merchandise. The freight 
train of which this car is a part is hauled by a big 
steam locomotive to the town to which the tea is 
shipped. Here it is unloaded by the train men and 
left in the freight depot until called for by the truck 
man serving the grocery store that has purchased it. 
This delivery man carries it in his wagon to the 
retail grocery store, where the grocer or one of his 
clerks unpacks it and places it on his shelves. 

The tea has one more trip to make — a journey in 
the grocer's delivery wagon or motor to the home 
of the consumer. Of course the consumer buys 



22 THE STORY OF FOODS 

only a small quantity of tea at one time, probably 
a one-pound can. Let us suppose that on the after- 
noon when the tea is delivered, the housewife has 
callers and asks them to have tea with her. If she 
has a tea wagon there is still another ride, although 
a short one, for the fragrant leaves from the far 
Orient — a trip on the dainty tea wagon from the 
kitchen into the room where the guests are waiting. 

So we find that, from the first journey the tea 
makes, in the big basket on the back of the Ceylon 
native, until it is served by the maid from the tea 
wagon, it is handled by many people and is carried 
in many vehicles. If you try in this way to trace 
from its source every food served on your table, 
you will soon learn what interesting travelers are 
the foods which come from the remote regions of the 
earth to your kitchen. You will also learn how 
large a part of the world's greatest systems of trans- 
portation is devoted to the carrying of foods. 

Carrying food in the United States. The quan- 
tity of food material carried by the railroads of the 
United States is so vast that it staggers the imagi- 
nation. In a single year more than 116,084,000 tons 
of foodstuffs were hauled over the railways of this 
country. Of this startling total more than 52,000,- 
000 tons were grain. Of animal products almost 
30,000,000 tons were transported by rail. This 
mighty burden may be separated into four classes: 
15,000,000 tons of live stock, 2,500,000 tons of 
dressed meats, 2,500,000 tons of other packing- 
house products, and 9,000,000 tons of poultry, eggs, 
milk, fish, and game. In the same year our railroads 
carried more than 17,000,000 tons of fruits and 
vegetables and 9,000,000 tons of flour. 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 23 

If you wish to get a better understanding of the 
great task of carrying food, take your pencil and 




Humphries Photo Co. 

Hauling cabbage to market by wagon. Garden products for near-by 
cities are largely carried by wagon and motor truck 

reduce these tons to pounds. But you must not for- 
get that a considerable amount of the foodstuffs used 
or produced in this country are not shipped by rail 
at all, but carried by wagon, by truck, and by boat. 
Care in shipping foods. In railway and steam- 
ship advertisements we are constantly reminded of 
the comforts of travel provided for passengers. 
Few, however, realize that foods receive almost as 
good care as people in modern transportation. For 
example, many kinds of foods are shipped from the 
Pacific to the Atlantic coast in specially made express 
cars which are attached to passenger trains and run 
on fast-time schedules. The cost of building one 
of the " passenger express refrigerator" cars is offi- 
cially stated to be not far from forty-five hundred 



24 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



dollars. The California shipper who fills one of 
these cars with butter and ships it to New York or 




Icing a "passenger express refrigerator" car with an 
automatic chain ice conveyor 

Philadelphia does so at an express charge of about 
one thousand dollars. Butter, however, is an 
especially heavy food and therefore expensive to 
ship. The cost of shipping a car of this type filled 
with fruits or vegetables from the Pacific to the 
Atlantic usually runs from six hundred to eight 
hundred dollars for the trip by this fast service. 
Table grapes, cantaloupes, cherries, asparagus, and 
many vegetables are thus sent by the carload across 
the continent when they could not be successfully 
carried so long a distance under ordinary trans- 
portation conditions. 

Special cars for special foods. Almost every food 
has peculiarities which must be carefully provided 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 



25 



for by those undertaking to transport it a long 
distance and deliver it at the end of the journey 
in good condition. Of many foods it may be said 
that if the temperature is too low they frost; if 
too high, they sweat. These extremes are carefully 
guarded against. Some fruits are more successfully 
carried when cooled by ventilation than by refrig- 
eration. This is especially true of the more delicate 
berries. 

The most important types of special food cars are 
those made for carrying fresh beef, cured meats, 
fruits and vegetables requiring ventilation, fruits 
and vegetables demanding refrigeration, bananas, 
fish and oysters, pickles, potatoes, dairy products, 
mineral waters, maize products, cottonseed oil, 
molasses, cattle, hogs and sheep, live poultry. Big 




Loading ventilator cars with fruit and vegetables from the great 

truck gardens of the South for the long journey 

to northern markets 

shippers have found it profitable to develop a dis- 
tinct type of car for every food named in this list. 



26 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The banana and mineral water cars are especially 
frost proof; the fresh-meat car has racks for hanging 




Interior of a special fresh-meat car. In these cars the halves of beef 
are hung upon racks 

halves of beef; the cars for pickles, maize products, 
cottonseed oil, and molasses are tank cars. In a 
word, each car named has some distinct feature 
which especially fits it for the safe transportation of 
some special kind of food product. 

Taking care of small shipments. This work of 
perfecting the means of carrying foods to the highest 
point of efficiency does not stop with the building 
of special freight and express cars. Not all food 
shipments can be made in full car lots. This means 
that many devices have been invented to take care 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 



27 



of small shipments. For instance, there is the 
"pony refrigerator" for the carrying of delicate 
fruits in ordinary express cars. This is lined with 
zinc and is much like a large house refrigerator. 
The earliest California cherries, for example, are 
quite generally shipped to the Atlantic seaboard in 
these cars. 

One of the simplest but most useful devices for 
the carrying of highly perishable foods in small 
quantities, thus far developed, is a patent box, made 
in many sizes, the especial feature of which is a shal- 
low tray of cheap tin, which fits into the top of the 




One of the simple devices for shipping small packages of perishable 

foods. The small baskets as well as the hamper are 

lined with green paraffin paper 

box after the foodstuff has been packed. This tray 
has a drain spout which runs outside to carry off the 



28 THE STORY OF FOODS 

water from the ice with which the tray is filled. 
When the box has reached its destination the tray 
is thrown away. 

Preparing vegetables for shipment. Spinach, 
from California and Texas, affords a good example 
of the special preparation which many foods require 
before being sent on a long journey. When they 
come in from the fields, the loads of spinach look 
like heaps of wilted weeds. They are given a bath 
in tanks of ice-cold water. This not only loosens 
the dirt, which settles to the bottom of the tank, 
but it revives the plants to the point of crispness. 
Then the greens are packed in hampers with a small 
piece of ice in the center and chipped ice on the top. 
Finally, the hampers are placed in ventilator cars 
and the spinach seldom fails to arrive in a tempting 
condition. 

Almost every dining table has some food on it 
which has required special treatment or special 
carrying provision that it might make its journey 
from the place of its origin in a tempting and 
acceptable condition. Perhaps no better example 
of this can be cited than the banana. 

Shipping bananas. In Costa Rica, between Vera 
Cruz and Colon, is Puerto Limon, the capital of what 
might well be called the Banana Kingdom. From 
here about fourteen million bunches of bananas are 
shipped every year, going to all parts of the civilized 
world. All the bananas are cut or selected according 
to the length and character of the journey which 
they must make. In other words, it will not do 
for any bananas in a shipment to become over-ripe 
before their destination is reached, because one bad 
bunch will spoil hundreds of others in the cargo. 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 



29 



One banana ship carries fifty thousand bunches of 
bananas in its hold. They are loaded by means of 




Courtesy of United Fruit Co. 

Loading a banana ship by means of a mechanical conveyor. The 

fruit, carefully selected according to the length of its journey, will 

be placed in rooms cooled by fans and refrigeration pipes 

mechanical conveyors and are received into rooms 
already cooled to the right temperature by a system 
of refrigeration pipes and large centrifugal fans. 
This system keeps the cargo both cool and dry. 
"Banana messengers." When the fruit steamer 
reaches its port the bananas are quickly transferred 
to cars properly refrigerated, or, perhaps, to cold 
storage rooms in a great fruit warehouse. A man is 
sent with every banana train to see that the bananas 
are kept in the best possible condition until delivered 
into the hands of the customers of the fruit company. 
These " banana messengers" must inspect the cars 
at division points, record the temperature, and take 



30 THE STORY OF FOODS 

the proper measures to cope with weather conditions 
in the territory through which the cars must travel. 
These cars are made so that they may be heated as 
quickly as cooled. At certain points they are in- 
spected by resident " banana messengers" who 
check the work done by the men sent with the 
train. The United States receives each year, by 
this remarkable method of transportation, almost 
fifty million bunches of bananas. Whenever you 
see a bunch of bananas you can scarcely forget its 
wonderfully interesting journey from Central America 
to the cellar of the dealer in "the States" — a trip 
which has been personally conducted with as much 
care as if the bunch of bananas had been one of a 
number of human passengers. 

Fish shipped alive. The lakes and rivers of 
Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa abound in fish which 
are carried alive from their native waters and 
delivered to the cities of the East as lively and 
squirming as when they were first caught. While 
they are by no means the choicest kinds of fish, 
being mainly buffalo and carp, they are a boon to 
the people who buy them because they are sold at 
a cheap price and delivered in prime condition. 
The cars in which these fish are carried alive are 
furnished with large tanks through which run small 
pipes pierced with many tiny holes. Jets of air 
are constantly forced through these holes by means 
of an electrical air pump. By this device, it is pos- 
sible to carry many fish in a tank and keep them in 
a good, lively condition to the end of the journey. 

Old and new ways of distributing fish. In con- 
tinental Europe fast fish trains distribute this food 
throughout that country in a most systematic and 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 



31 



economical way, very unlike the way fish were deliv- 
ered in Austria a quarter of a century ago. At that 
time enormous tanks of water containing fish were 
hauled by from four to eight horses from Russia to 
Austria. Thousands of these fish were thus deliv- 
ered alive to the various towns and sold in the public 
markets. As these towns were about fifteen miles 
apart, to take the fish from one town to another 
meant an all-day journey. By this expensive 
method, fish naturally became a luxury instead of 
the poor man's food as it is to-day. 

Primitive methods of carrying food. The means 
by which foods are carried in countries where primi- 
tive conditions still exist are as interesting as they 
are varied and picturesque. The most primitive 




Brown Bros. 

Women of Jamaica carrying fruits and vegetables to market 

of all methods of transportation is the carrying of 
burdens by human beings. In nearly every country 



32 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



or region which might be classed as barbarous or 
semi-civilized, a distinct method of human burden 




Brown Bros. 

Rice growers in Java transporting grain by means of shoulder poles 

bearing has been developed. In Jamaica, for in- 
stance, market day finds long processions of women 
going to town with baskets loaded with vegetables 
and fruits nicely poised on their heads. This is 
really the characteristic way in which foods make 
their first journeys in all parts of the torrid zone. 

Many ingenious things have been devised by 
man to enable him to carry greater burdens. Many 
laborers among Old World peoples use various forms 
of what the pioneer American farmer called the 
"neckyoke." This is a pole from each end of which 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 



33 



a burden may be suspended. In Java, for instance, 
the natives carry rice to market by means of shoul- 
der poles of the simplest kind. 

Journeying by water. Naturally water transpor- 
tation is the most popular and the cheapest wherever 
it can be used, because it involves the least outlay 
of effort or power for the size of the burden carried. 
Rafts, canoes, boats, and ferries of many kinds are 
used for the forwarding of foods. But the most 
novel food craft that ever rode the waters is the 
coconut raft (see page 424) , which looks like a huge 
circular mat made of unhusked nuts. 

Pack animals as carriers. Where animal power 
is employed to transport foods, the "pack" is the 




Courtesy of United Fruit Co. 

From the faraway plantations of Central America, pack mules 

carry to waiting steamships many thousand bunches 

of bananas destined for American tables 

most primitive form of placing the burden. The 

principal pack animals are the mule, the burro, the 



34 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



horse, the camel, and the llama of the Andes. All 
these animals are extensively used to "pack" foods 
to and from remote and inaccessible points. The 
camel is the "ship of the desert" for the warmer 
parts of the Old World countries of Asia and Africa. 
In America the mule is the great mountain climber. 
The donkey is the almost universal burden bearer 
in the Old World and the New, and the pack horse 
is almost as common and as widely distributed. 

If these animals did not carry food to miners, 
settlers, and others of the "advance guard of civili- 
zation," a large part of the world's pioneering 
would be impossible. If they did not bring foods 
from out-of-the-way places, many of our most pleas- 
ing foods would be much scarcer than they are now. 

Journeying by cart and sled. The two-wheeled 
cart is probably the most typical vehicle for carrying 
foods in the old-fashioned way. The style of the 




Hauling wheat to market, Nairobi, Africa 

cart varies with the place or region of its origin. 
The very simplest type of cart is that used in the 



THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 35 

Philippines for hauling rice. The wheels are solid 
discs of wood and the " box " merely a rough platform. 



J _^^0. 






J 


s ^Bn! 




- 





Carrying supplies in Alaska by dog train Brown Bros * 

The next stage in the development of the cart is 
typified by the wheat carts of Nairobi, British East 
Africa, drawn by the quaint humpbacked oxen of 
that region. The wheels are of wood, being heavy 
rims held in place by four crude spokes or cross 
braces. This vehicle has a somewhat elaborate box. 

Dogs harnessed to carts haul much of the food 
in the Old World. In the Far North the sled is the 
common means of conveying food. In Lapland the 
sled is drawn by reindeer, in Alaska by dogs, and in 
Siberia or Iceland by hardy little ponies. 

Motor truck and automobile. The motor truck 
and the automobile trailer are the latest and most im- 
proved means of food transportation. These modern 
carriers have almost revolutionized the bringing of 
foods from the field to the near-by markets. If we 
were suddenly deprived of them we should be made 
to feel their importance far more than we do now. 



Chapter III 



WHEAT 

The world's harvest time. This is harvest time 
for wheat! Not a day passes in which wheat is not 
being harvested somewhere. Perhaps it is on the 
pampas of South America or the steppes of Siberia, 
but somewhere the sun will set to-night upon a 
harvest scene; somewhere the golden grain is falling 




Harvest time in Kansas. Every day throughout the year a harvest 
field like this may be seen somewhere in the world 

beneath the sickle or reaper. Somewhere, too, wheat 
is being planted to-day. 

When the wheat fields of Dakota are covered with 
snow, the men of the Argentine are threshing wheat; 
and when winter grips Patagonia, a harvest moon 
shines upon the grain fields of Scandinavia. As we 
are sowing wheat in the United States it is being 

36 



WHEAT 



37 



harvested in the valley of the Nile, and as the 
Egyptians sow wheat the grain is being cut by 
Russians in Siberia. Thus we see that the process of 
the world's wheat production is an unbroken cycle. 

A Calendar of the World's Wheat Harvests 



January 


June (cont.) 


Australia 


United States (cont.) : 


Chile 


Kentucky 


New Zealand 


Mississippi 




Missouri 


February and March 


North Carolina 


Egypt (upper) 


Oklahoma 


India 


Oregon 




Tennessee 


April 


Utah 


Asia Minor 


Virginia 


Cuba 


Washington 


Cyprus 




Egypt (lower) 


July 


India 


Austria-Hungary 


Mexico 


Bulgaria 


Persia 


Canada: 


Syria 


Quebec 




England (southern) 


May 


Germany 


Algeria 


Roumania 


Asia (central) 


Russia (southern) 


China 


Switzerland 


Japan 


United States: 


Morocco 


Colorado 


United States: 


Illinois 


Texas 


Indiana 




Iowa 


June 


Michigan 


France (southern) 


Minnesota (southern) 


Greece 


Nebraska 


Italy 


New York 


Portugal 


Ohio 


Spain 


Pennsylvania 


Turkey (European) 


Wisconsin 


United States: 




Alabama 


August 


Arkansas 


Belgium 


California 


Canada: 


Georgia 


Alberta 


Illinois 


British Columbia 


Kansas 


Manitoba 



WHEAT 39 

August (cont.) September and October 

Canada (cont.): Norway- 
Ontario Russia (northern) 
Saskatchewan Siberia 

Denmark Scotland 

Great Britain Sweden 

Russia (central) 

Poland November 

The Netherlands Africa (southern) 

United States: Argentine 

Minnesota (central Peru 

and northern) 

Montana December 

New England Burma 

North Dakota New South Wales 
South Dakota 



Wheat a universal product. Wheat grows on 
every continent, and, to some extent, is cultivated 
in every civilized country. Distinctively the white 
man's food, it may be called the universal food of the 
Caucasian race. Not only is wheat eaten chiefly by 
the Caucasian, but he has taken it with him wherever 
he has migrated. He has bred wheat to meet local 
conditions everywhere, although it has been found 
wild only in the temperate zone. Wheat was the 
chief crop of ancient Egypt and there is reason to 
believe that its cultivation antedated the Pharaohs. 
To-day this grain is cultivated on every continent 
and on all important islands of the seas. There are 
wheat fields in Canada less than six hundred miles 
from the arctic circle and in India within the 
torrid zone. 

Civilization and the culture of wheat. The cul- 
ture of wheat may be considered as a sign indicating 
the march of civilization. It should be noted that 
from the beginning of history the greatest wheat 
production has meant the balance of power among 
the nations. At least the strongest nations have 



40 THE STORY OF FOODS 

always been the great wheat producers. Far back 
in the early ages when wheat was the chief crop of 
ancient Egypt, her power was as wonderful as her 
civilization. The ancient Romans at the height of 
their power valued their granaries almost as highly 
as they did their armies. Many other examples 
might be cited to show that civilization, national 
power, and the cultivation and use of wheat have 
always been closely associated. 

While England raises only a small fraction of the 
wheat needed to feed her people, among the posses- 
sions of the British Empire are to be found millions 
of acres of wheat land. It is fair to-day to call the 
United States the leading wheat-growing country of 
the world, but the time is near at hand when she 
must increase her production in order to provide 
enough for her own people. 

Origin of wheat unknown. No one knows the 
age of wheat. History refuses to give us the date of 
its origin. We are told that the Chinese used wheat 
for food twenty-seven hundred years before the 
Christian era and that it has been known on the 
uplands of Syria and in the valley of the Euphrates 
and Tigris rivers for ages. Traces of buried wheat 
have been found in ancient tombs of Egypt, in the 
prehistoric lake dwellings of Switzerland, and in cer- 
tain regions of Asia. But it is impossible to deter- 
mine the exact age of wheat. Ancient history freely 
mentions the plow and speaks familiarly of cereals, 
among which is wheat. In fact, the oldest countries 
are those which seem most closely connected with 
this world-wide food. 

Methods of cultivation. Wheat has been grown 
in the valley of the Nile for many ages. Each year 



WHEAT 41 

the people are putting more intelligent effort into the 
cultivation of this grain. Even the modern tractor 



Plowing on the upland plains of Palestine. Notice the crude plows 

is occasionally seen in Egypt doing the work done 
centuries ago by the slaves of the ancient Pharaohs. 
But modern methods of sowing, cultivating, harvest- 
ing, threshing, transporting, and grinding wheat are 
not consistently practiced the world over. In parts 
of Syria and Russia the people are still content to 
use the same crude implements for cultivating and 
harvesting wheat that were used in Egypt and Rome 
thousands of years ago. Yet Russia is to-day the 
second largest wheat-raising country in the world, 
ranking next to the United States in the production 



42 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



of that grain. In some years the Russian wheat 
harvests have even surpassed those of this country. 




Harvesting on the steppes of Siberia. Here camels furnish the 
motive power for an American reaper 

Growing wheat in Russia. Wheat is produced 
in both European and Asiatic Russia, but the great 
bulk of the wheat lands lie in the so-called Black 
Earth district of Southern Russia. This enormous 
plain, probably in its depth of soil unequaled any- 
where else on the face of the globe, yields, under 
almost primitive conditions of cultivation, much 
more wheat than is consumed in Russia. This sur- 
plus grain is sold in Western Europe, where not 
enough wheat is raised to feed the people. Poland, 
once an independent kingdom, is another great 
wheat-producing section of Russia. 

On the vast steppes of Siberia there are many 
wheat farms, and here may be seen modern Ameri- 
can farm machinery of every kind. Harvesters and 



WHEAT 



4?, 



binders manufactured in the United States are used 
throughout this part of Russia, with camels serving 
as the motive power. Russia also employs modern 
oil and steam tractors which do the work of many 
horses. In fact, in all parts of the world one may 
see modern American power tractors at work where 
once slaves, camels, elephants, zebus, oxen, or horses 
furnished the driving power. 

Sowing and harvesting in many lands. The 
sowing and harvesting of wheat differ widely in the 
various countries. In America machinery replaces 
man wherever possible, but in some parts of Russia, 
India, Egypt, Algeria, Palestine, and China the 
peasants and natives still cling to the crude ways 
of their forefathers. Many of them are too poor 
to buy machinery and others know too little of 
modern methods to use it. There are still many 




Courtesy of International Harvester Co. 

Harvesting wheat with the sickle in Algeria. Modern implements 
are gradually being introduced throughout the country 

countries where wheat is sown by hand, harvested 
with a small hand sickle or a heavy "cradle," 



44 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



bound by hand, and then threshed with the old- 
fashioned hand flail. But the parts of the world 










Courtesy of International Harvester Co. 

Threshing wheat in Egypt. This is one of the Old World countries 

where the methods and implements of bygone 

centuries are still in use 

where one may see the implements of bygone cen- 
turies in use are becoming fewer each year. Yet 
the ancient wooden plow — little more than a 
crooked stick — is still used to some extent in 
Syria, India, and China, while the implements of 



WHEAT 45 

the Japanese are often as crude as were those of 
their forefathers. 

But we do not have to go to Old World lands to 
find ancient methods and ancient tools employed 
in wheat culture. Within twenty miles of Albu- 
querque, New Mexico, and in other places in the 
Southwest, we may see Indians raising wheat and 
corn under these same primitive conditions. 

Looking back at one of the oldest countries we 
see India, with more than three times as many people 
as there are in the United States, farming by methods 
almost as far behind the times as those of the ancient 
Romans. There are, of course, certain regions in 
India where the progressive Briton has introduced 
modern farming methods, but as a whole the country 
is using the methods and implements of long ago. 
In the fields of India the buffalo, zebu, camel, ele- 
phant, and ox may still be found hitched to the 
ancient wooden plow. There, too, one may see 
hand sowing and hand harvesting and, at threshing 
time, the old-fashioned hand flail. 

The wheat farms of the United States offer the 
best example of the modern way of raising this 
grain. Vast farms, many of them containing thou- 
sands of acres, are plowed by great tractor engines 
pulling as many as eight plows behind them. On 
some of these farms the plows are followed by the 
harrows and these in turn by the seeders, so that in 
one day, and at the same time, many acres of land 
are plowed, harrowed, and planted to wheat. 

Perhaps nowhere else in the world does the wheat 
crop depend so much upon the whims of the weather 
as it does in India. Here seeding time is usually 
followed by long, heavy rains and storms called 



46 THE STORY OF FOODS 

monsoons. When, for any reason, these tropical 
storms lack strength or the rainy season is shortened, 
the wheat crop of India fails, and this failure usually 
means famine. We hear many sad stories of great 
famines in India, when hundreds and thousands of 
natives die for want of food. 

Storing and shipping wheat. The handling and 
transportation of wheat have likewise undergone 
many changes. As in planting and harvesting, our 
methods of handling and transportation are the most 
advanced of all the world. Practically every wheat 
farm in the United States is equipped with modern 
machinery, and every farming center has its ele- 
vators for storing and shipping grain. The railroads 
of this country are equipped with every known 
device to facilitate the handling and transportation 
of grain. 

Distribution of worlds wheat crop. Few coun- 
tries in the world raise more than enough wheat to 
feed their own people. Russia, the countries of the 
Danubian plain, the United States, the Argentine, 
Canada, Australia, and India always have wheat 
for sale. The United Kingdom, Germany, the 
Netherlands, Scandinavia, Belgium, Italy, France, 
and Brazil must all import a considerable part 
of the wheat or wheat flour they use. 

Algeria was originally the granary of Rome. 
The Moors who later conquered it were not wheat 
eaters and as a result the growing of wheat in Algeria 
practically ceased. But in recent years, this crop 
has been re-established by the French government. 

The world's crop of wheat is about 4,000,000,000 
bushels. The United States furnishes about one 
fifth of the world's supply of wheat. By far the 



WHEAT 



47 



greatest part of our wheat is consumed at home. 
In normal years we export on an average 150,000,- 
000 bushels of wheat, including that ground into 
flour, while Russia under normal conditions exports 




Courtesy of International Harvester Co. 

Wheat ready for shipment. A familiar scene at Odessa, Russia, 
the leading seaport of the Black Sea 

more than 170,000,000 bushels and the Argentine 
sells to other countries more than 90,000,000 
bushels. The world's consumption of wheat is 
advancing steadily. The rate of increase is about 
100,000,000 bushels a year. 



48 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Under normal conditions the United Kingdom is 
compelled to import about 220,000,000 bushels of 
wheat and flour a year, and Germany must import 
about 80,000,000 bushels. The Netherlands finds it 
necessary to buy from other countries approximately 
20,000,000 bushels of wheat and flour a year and 
Belgium about 50,000,000 bushels. In fact, every 
country in Europe, with the exception of Russia, 
Bulgaria, and Roumania, must look to foreign lands 
for a large part of its wheat supply. 

China does not raise wheat enough for each in- 
habitant to have even a small amount, but uses rice 
instead. In Japan, however, about 1,250,000 acres 
of land are given over to the raising of wheat and 
the yearly crop totals about 27,000,000 bushels. 
This indicates that the average Japanese farmer 
raises 21.5 bushels of wheat to the acre. 

Results of intensified farming. In the United 
States the harvests average only 14 bushels of 
wheat to the acre. But in England and Germany 
intensified farming by a lavish use of fertilizer has 
been developed to such a degree that the farmers 
are able to produce an average of more than 30 
bushels of wheat per acre. Intensified farming is 
also practiced in some of our states, the yield in 
Maine and Vermont having averaged as high as 
29.7 and 29.3 bushels to the acre. 

If all the land available for wheat were to be 
farmed under the method employed in England and 
Germany, the annual yield of wheat would stagger 
the imagination. But it is equally true that if all 
the land now devoted to wheat were to be farmed as 
land is farmed in some parts of Russia, the whole 
world would experience a famine in wheat such as 



WHEAT 49 

occurred in Russia in 1891 and 1892. Then thou- 
sands of Russians starved to death. That famine 
taught Russia a lesson and since then she has been 
doing much to improve her agricultural conditions. 
Wheat industry employs many people. Every- 
where a multitude of men and women are earning 
their living by working with wheat or wheat prod- 
ucts. Every day huge ships loaded with wheat go 
back and forth across the oceans, and long trains 





^^fffi 






A <>> 


(SS 











Courtesy of International Harvester Co. 

Hauling wheat to market across the pampas of the Argentine 

loaded with this grain move across the various 
countries. Every day millions and millions of dol- 
lars are spent for wheat. 

Perhaps the wheat which furnished the flour your 
mother baked into bread to-day came from a farm 
thousands of miles away. The wheat that enters 
into the food set before the English child may have 
traveled many miles in a wagon or an automobile; 
it may have ridden in a great cart over the pampas of 
the Argentine; it may have been carried by ship and 
hauled in freight cars. This wheat may have been 



50 THE STORY OF FOODS 

planted, harvested, threshed, and handled in the 
old-fashioned, laborious manner followed in some 
parts of Russia and India, or it may have been pro- 
duced on one of our great, modern, up-to-date farms. 

If it were not for the men who devoted their lives 
to the study of how to grow, handle, and store 
wheat, you and I might often go hungry for bread. 
But the great grain experts worked faithfully at the 
task and gradually developed the modern elevator, 
in which wheat can be safely stored for many years. 
However, the crops that are now raised each year 
make it unnecessary to store wheat for use in future 
years and these elevators are used only to hold the 
wheat until the mills are ready to make it into flour. 

Flour the chief wheat product. While some wheat 
is eaten unbroken or in its natural state, by far the 
largest part of it is turned into flour which in turn 
is made into various foods, such as bread and pas- 
tries. Then, too, a great deal of wheat is made into 
what is known as breakfast foods. 

Macaroni. Next to bread and pastries, macaroni 
is one of the most popular foods made from wheat 
flour. Since the introduction from Russia, about 
1900, of " durum" wheat, and still more since the 
European War increased the difficulty of procuring 
macaroni from Italy, the macaroni industry in this 
country has grown at a surprising rate. By the 
use of air currents and other devices, Italy's great 
climatic advantage of being naturally suited to dry- 
ing macaroni has been overcome. The manufac- 
turers now make artificial climates within their works 
that are under almost perfect control. Macaroni 
is made in many different forms, the most familiar 
being macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, and the fancy 



WHEAT 



51 



letter and star shapes. It is highly nutritious, 
exceeding in food value both bread and beefsteak. 




Brown Bros. 

One of the most popular foods made from flour is macaroni. The dough 

is pressed through holes in the machine, coming out in long strings 

which are cut to the desired length and hung up to dry 

Wheat on our bill-of-fare. Wheat flour appears 
on our bill-of-fare in many different forms. In fact, 
so wide is the range of its uses that at one meal it 
may appear on your table as an ingredient in half 
a dozen different dishes. For instance, if we were to 
consider how many ways it entered into our dinner 
we should probably find that we would have first of 
all, with our soup, crackers made from wheat flour; 
with our fish perhaps a sauce containing wheat flour 
and toast made from wheat flour bread. Then of 
course there would be wheat bread and perhaps 
macaroni made entirely of durum wheat flour. 



52 THE STORY OF FOODS 

With the roast we might have Yorkshire (wheat 
flour) pudding, or maybe there would be a fowl with 




Brown Bros. 



In the harvest fields of Australia 

dressing made of wheat bread. Our pies, our cakes, 
and our puddings would all draw heavily upon the 
wheat supply. Possibly instead of coffee or tea we 
might prefer a cereal drink containing wheat. A 
great factor at the athletic training table is plain 
boiled wheat and milk. 

When at your dinner table to-night you spread 
a layer of golden butter over a slice of bread you 
will be adding the last link to one of the greatest 
business chains in the world to-day. The story of 
a bushel of wheat from the time it ripens at the end 
of a waving stalk in the warm sunshine until it is 
eaten as cereal, bread, cake, or pastry, is as inter- 
esting as the story of Robinson Crusoe. 

The harvest. When the wheat is ready to har- 
vest, many binders are sent clicking across the broad 
fields, cutting the grain, tying it in bundles, and 



WHEAT 53 

dropping it on the ground. Harvest hands follow 
these binders, pick up the bundles of wheat, and set 
them up in shocks. Later to the fields come the 
threshing outfits with their crews, and the bundles 
of wheat are fed to the buzzing separator. As the 
grain is separated from the stalks it runs out into 
sacks and the stalks are blown out through a long 
pipe into a rapidly mounting pile of straw and chaff. 

The sacked wheat is then carried to a near-by 
elevator where it is weighed and put into storage. 
But not all the wheat is put into sacks ; sometimes it 
is brought to the elevators in great tank wagons and 
dumped into a receiving bin. It is then elevated 
by chain cups or suction to a storage bin from where 
it is loaded through chutes into big grain cars. The 
grain is carried in these cars to large roller mills 
and converted into flour. 

Flour milling. The history of making wheat into 
flour is long and contains many interesting stories, 
none of which, perhaps, is more interesting than 
one connected with spring wheat. Although only 
a bare half century since the superior qualities of this 
grain have been utilized, to spring wheat alone is due 
the beginning of the wonderful prosperity of the 
Northwest. And the secret behind this lies in the 
processes of milling. Spring wheat is especially 
rich in gluten, an element highly valuable in bread 
making. But under the old processes of milling, 
which reduced the grain to flour at one grinding, the 
bran — which is coarser in spring wheat — remained 
in the flour, discolored it, absorbed moisture, and 
caused it to spoil. Under a new process of succes- 
sive milling, this dark-colored bran was removed. 
Then spring wheat came into its own. The vast 



54 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



prairies of the Northwest were turned into fields of 
wheat, stretching for miles in every direction, and 




A group of Minneapolis flour mills where thirty thousand 
barrels of flour are made each day 

thus Minneapolis became the great flour-milling 
center of the world. 

The value of the wheat depends upon the qual- 
ity of the flour it produces. For this reason the 
United States government has maintained mills and 
laboratories where the exact milling qualities of 
each species of wheat can be determined. Then 
the farmers plant the variety of wheat on which 
the government reports most favorably. The chief 
types of wheat are known as hard, semi-hard, and 



WHEAT 55 

soft, red, white, and durum or macaroni. Wheat 
is also known as spring and winter, but this 
depends upon the time of planting. The milling 
qualities of these wheats vary and for that reason 
the price also varies. 

As with the production of wheat, no one knows 
how long man has been making it into flour, or similar 
products. The crushed wheat of prehistoric man 
was very different from the fine flour made in our 
great modern mills. The ignorant savage who 
lived centuries before the Christian era could not 
produce with the aid of unhewn stones a flour similar 
to that made by the skilled workmen who operate 
the complicated machinery of the modern mill. 
But as man advanced so did his methods of grinding 
wheat. For many ages, the natives of all countries 
ground wheat between stones. 

Invention of the saddle-stone grinder. The first 
step toward modern milling was taken when the 
saddle-stone grinder was invented. This was used 
by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Swiss, and Egyp- 
tians. China and other Asiatic countries also ground 
their wheat with this device and it is even now in 
use in some parts of the world. The natives in 
certain regions of Africa resort to the same methods 
of grinding their meal as were in use in the time 
of Abraham. The saddle stone consisted of two 
stones, the upper of which fitted into the hollowed 
top of the lower. The wheat or other grain to be 
ground was put into the hollow of the bottom 
stone and the upper stone was rocked backward and 
forward until the grain was reduced to a coarse meal. 

From the time of the first saddle stone to the 
present era of steel rollers the process of making 



56 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



meal and flour from grain has undergone many 
changes. Centuries of progress can be traced by 

the various develop- 
ments of the flouring 
mill. Yet to-day prac- 
tically every kind of 
grain reducer, from 
the saddle stones of the 
Egyptians to the mod- 
ern tempered steel roll- 
ers, is in use somewhere . 
Family and state 
mills. In olden days 
the work of the miller 
was done by women 
and slaves, each fam- 
ily grinding its own 
meal. At that time 
there were no public 
mills and every house 




Women of Palestine grinding 
flour with a quern 



had its own saddle stone and its quern. Finally 
in Rome state mills were established and in these 
labored slaves and criminals. Oxen shared the labor 
with slaves. It was also the practice to put prisoners 
captured at war to work in the mills. The Roman 
mills were increased in size and gradually improved. 
Introduction of the public mill. A little later the 
use of public mills was extended, and throughout 
almost all the civilized world the people were com- 
pelled to bring their grain to these public mills and 
pay a heavy toll for the grinding. The poor people 
much preferred to do their own grinding with their 
rude little querns. But the landlords and public 
officials, greedy for the toll, used harsh methods to 



WHEAT 



57 



prevent the people from making meal or flour. 
Many times the homes were raided and the little 
mills destroyed or carried away. 

Later types of mills. The water-power mill soon 
appeared, followed by the windmill. But it was 
many years before the steam-driven flour mill came 
into use. The water-driven mill was operated by 
the Romans before the birth of Christ and the wind- 
mill was introduced into England about 1200 a.d. 




d & Underwood, N. Y. 

One method of grinding wheat in Manchuria, a region rivaling the 
United States in land area adapted to spring wheat 

It was not until 1784 that the first steam-power mill 
was established in London. Recently mills operated 
by electricity have been erected. 



58 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Undoubtedly the finest example of a Dutch wind- 
mill in America stands on the banks of the Fox River 

at Geneva, about 
thirty-five miles west 
of Chicago, Illinois. 
It is part of the equip- 
ment of Riverbank 
Villa, the extensive es- 
tate of Colonel George 
B. Fabyan. It is 
seventy-five feet high 
and can grind one hun- 
dred and fifty bushels 
of wheat into flour in 
eight hours of good 
wind pressure. This 
quaint mill, which 
looks as if it might 
have been trans- 
planted from Holland, 
was built in 1876 near 



r 






\ 




^ 


A 






ffili 


^^^ 






SSbbS"^. " 


jA i 


... w| ^ . 


4 : / 


$ 


v i ,jf 4* 




^mi him 



Courtesy of Colonel Ceorge B. Fabyan 

An old windmill of Dutch type 
at Geneva, Illinois 



Elmhurst, Illinois, by two brothers from the land 
of dykes. In 1915 it was taken apart and its 
pieces hauled by wagon a distance of nearly twenty 
miles to its present site. Old-fashioned burr stones 
are used in this mill and it grinds wheat, corn, and 
various other small grains. 

At the present time the most economical method 
of grinding is by water power, but it is only in cer- 
tain places that sufficient power can be obtained. 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is the greatest mill- 
ing center in the world, uses the power furnished 
by the St. Anthony falls of the Mississippi River. 

To-day in the great mills of America and Europe 



WHEAT 



59 



thousands and thousands of barrels of flour are 
ground daily between sets of tempered steel rollers. 
These grind the grain until it is reduced to a fine dust, 
known as our commercial flour. When you visit 
a great roller mill, and hear the whirr of the many 
busy machines, it will be interesting to recall what 
you have learned about the grinding stones of earlier 
days. You may think of the rude stones used by 
the savages, the saddle stones of the ancient Romans, 
the little querns of the poor people of Europe; the 
old water mills, in use for centuries, and still grinding 
wheat for the peasants; the picturesque Dutch wind- 
mills; the great modern steam and electric mills. 
Then you will realize how many years it has taken 




5/. Anthony Falls, which furnish the water power that has made 
Minneapolis the greatest milling center in the world 

the world to develop machinery that will convert 
wheat into the fine white flour of to-day. 



Chapter IV 

OTHER GRAINS 

A prehistoric food. The history of grain is as old 
as the history of man. Even our corn, although still 
unknown to most Europeans, has an origin reaching 
back into prehistoric times. Columbus found it 
widely cultivated by the Indians, but its use dates 
far back of 1492. There are evidences of its cultiva- 
tion by the Mound Builders and it has been found 




Papa go Indian woman of Arizona grinding corn on metate stone — 
the most primitive method known 

stored among the ruins of the Cliff Dwellers. No 
one knows when and how corn was obtained by the 
Indians. But it is from them that corn derived 
its name. 

Corn is the biblical term for all grains and the 
word is still used in this sense in England. When 
an Englishman wishes to speak of our corn he says 
"maize" or "Indian corn." 

60 



OTHER GRAINS 61 

Varied uses of corn as a table food. Corn 
deserves a prominent place among table cereals. 
Green corn, usually eaten on the cob, and canned 
corn are the forms best known to those who live 
in the city. These are commonly " sweet corn." But 
the large, hard yellow or white ears of "field corn," 
which rejoice the hearts of many thousands of farm- 
ers throughout our country, are not by any means 
all destined to be used as feed for stock. Of the 
3,000,000,000 bushels of corn raised in this country 
in a year many thousands of bushels are made into 
corn meal and hominy. These are staple foods in 
America, served daily on our tables as mush, "hasty 
pudding," muffins, johnny cake, and corn bread. 

A few years ago the United States each year sold 
a limited amount of corn in Europe. In years when 
the price was low at home and corn could be sold in 
competition with the cheaper stock foods of the world, 
the quantity sold in Europe was somewhat important. 

The value of corn as food for man has been little 
appreciated, even in our own country. It contains 
all the elements necessary for the sustenance of the 
body, furnishing heat, energy, and maintenance of 
life to an extent equal to that of any other cereal. 
It also has the advantage of a high rate of yield and 
a comparatively low cost of production. 

There are many countries in the world where the 
food value of corn is unknown, and where the grain 
is considered suitable only for stock feed. European 
nations, however, are rapidly becoming acquainted 
with the true value of this substantial food. 

At the Paris Exposition of 1900 the United States 
commission maintained for six months what was 
known as the American Corn Kitchen. This was 



OTHER GRAINS 



63 



done at the suggestion of a few men familiar with 
the food value of corn. In this kitchen were cooked 
and served many samples of food of which corn 
formed the basis. Thousands upon thousands visited 
the corn kitchen and in this way many Europeans 
were taught the value of corn as a table food. 

The same exposition contained an exhibit which 
demonstrated the fact that in corn America possesses 
a product with as wide a range of usefulness to the 
human race as that claimed for the bamboo. This 



Corn Plant (Maize) 



Eir 



Corn 



;a|k 



Breakfast food 



Glutin Hills 



Stock|foo( 



Husks 
MJts FJiel 



St ittk 

Pijh 



ESL 



Packing in war 



So|ap 



Corn oil 

X 



Cooking and 
Sala'd oil 



'Jints 



jbber substitute 



and meal 



food 



Ladndry 



Syrup 



Dext?- 



From Robinson's "Commercial Geography." After Corn Products Mfg. Co. data 

Industrial uses of the corn plant 

exhibit contained sixty distinct articles of commerce, 
all true products of Indian corn. It included among 
other things meals, flours, starches, sugars, oils, 
rubber substitutes, and cellulose. 

Originally it was thought that field corn could 
not be successfully grown in the extreme northern 
states. But now it is raised as far north as Minne- 
sota and the Dakotas, and both sweet and field corn 
may be found growing in many parts of Canada. 

The only real rival our country has as a corn- 
growing state is the Argentine. In that country in 



64 THE STORY OF FOODS 

the neighborhood of the Parana River there is a large 
area which by reason of soil and climate is wonder- 
fully adapted to the growing of this grain. As very 
little corn is used in any form in the Argentine, a 
large part of the crop, which now exceeds 300,000,000 
bushels a year, is available for sale to the importing 
countries of the world. 

The value of corn to the people of our own coun- 
try can scarcely be estimated. Its direct use on our 
bill-of-fare in the form of green corn or canned corn 
is trifling compared with its use in the form of beef, 
pork, mutton, poultry, milk, butter, cheese, and 
eggs. As a food for animals and fowls it is the basis 
of all meat products in this country. While corn 
has always played an important part in dairying, 
its usefulness in the production of milk has been 




Scene on a dairy farm. The use of the silo has greatly increased 
the importance of corn in the production of milk 

multiplied many times since the silo has become 
general throughout the dairy districts. When field 



OTHER GRAINS 65 

corn is cut into ensilage or is shredded, all of the 
corn plant except the stump and roots is consumed. 

The American canning industry draws largely 
upon sweet corn. In a single year more than 240,- 
000,000 cans of this splendid food are put up by the 
canners of this country. 

Millions of dollars' worth of various commercial 
products are made from the field corn of this country 
each year. Among these are sirups, starches, glu- 
cose, sugars, and various dextrines, or gum saps. 

Oats a popular breakfast food. Practically every 
one of you finds on your breakfast table, at least 
once a week, and perhaps seven times a week, our 
modern descendants of "porridge." To our grand- 
parents there was but one food made from oats and 
that was oatmeal mush or "porridge." Grand- 
mother would take her basket to the store and buy 
so many pounds of oatmeal, which the grocer would 
take out of a barrel with an old-fashioned wooden 
scoop and weigh into a paper bag. 

To-day table oats are handled in a very different 
way. There are as many varieties of foods made 
of oats as you have fingers and toes. Perhaps the 
rolled oats are now most widely known. These are 
put up in sacks, barrels, cartons, and cans of various 
shapes and sizes ranging from one pound to one 
hundred and eighty pounds. 

While there are many other kinds of cereal and 
patented breakfast foods sold, yet it is said that the 
United States consumes as food about 1,750,000 
barrels, or 315,000,000 pounds, of oats a year. Be- 
sides this many million bushels of oats — by far the 
greater part of the world's crop — each year are fed 
to live stock. 



66 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



America the greatest producer. With an average 
annual yield of more than a billion bushels, the 




Courtesy of Interna tioiial Harvester Co. 



A Wisconsin oat field. The oats raised in Wisconsin are 
among the finest in the world 

United States is the largest producer of oats in the 
world; Russia ranks second, Germany third, and 
Canada fourth. Like wheat, oats can be raised in 
almost every country and are, perhaps, even hardier 
than wheat. 

In America oats are grown in all the northern and 
western states. The South produces a small quan- 
tity, but the oats from that section are used almost 
entirely as stock food. The finest oats are said to 
be raised in Canada and in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Iowa and Illinois 
are the greatest oat-producing states in the Union. 
Oats are raised in Alaska, but only for stock feeding. 

Exports to other countries. Oats are shipped 
yearly from the United States to every civilized coun- 
try on the face of the globe, and to some not civilized. 



OTHER GRAINS 67 

Because of the wide range of the distribution of 
American oats it would be possible for oats harvested 
from the same acre in Iowa to be eaten in several 
different countries and by people of several different 
races. One pound of oats from an Iowa field might 
be eaten in China by the yellow man, another in 
Africa by the black man, another in the West by the 
red man, and another in Norway by the white man. 
Oats off the same acre in Minnesota might be 
eaten by the fisher folk of Iceland and the sheep 
raisers of Australia. 

While we raise more oats than any other country, 
we are at times compelled to import them. Our 
importations are mostly from Canada, although 
occasionally we buy some from the Argentine. 

Where rye is grown. Rye belongs to the wheat 
family. It is very hardy and will thrive under con- 
ditions too poor for most other grains. It succeeds 
best in a cool, moist climate. This grain furnishes 
food for an enormous part of the world's population, 
but probably has a smaller distribution than any 
other cultivated grain. The world's production of 
rye, roughly speaking, is about one half as great as 
that of wheat. More than one half the total yield 
of rye is grown in Russia, where almost 800,000,000 
bushels of this grain are produced yearly. Rye is 
the standard bread grain of the peasants of that 
country, who eat this cheaper grain and sell their 
wheat abroad. Next to Russia, Germany grows 
the largest amount of rye, producing about one 
half as much as Russia, or about one fourth of the 
world's supply. In the United States the rye crop 
is the smallest cereal crop grown, amounting to 
about 40,000,000 bushels a year. Very little rye 



68 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



rye is produced in the countries outside of Eastern 
Europe — Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary 
growing about 90 per cent of the world's rye crop. 




' 



Courtesy of International Harvester Co 



Harvesting rye. In Northern Europe rye is the principal cereal 

and throughout this region rye or black bread is one 

of the chief foods of the people 

Food value of rye. For many reasons rye might 
be classed as a neglected food in this country. As 
far as nutritive value is concerned, it is equal to any 
other cereal, not excepting wheat. It has never 
been a popular breadstuff in most countries, how- 
ever, because of the color of its flour and because of 
its lack of gluten, the quality in a grain which pro- 
duces light, aerated bread. 

Rye is prepared in a number of ways, one of 
which is called rye flakes. It is also used in a great 
many of the prepared breakfast foods and cereal 
drinks. Pumpernickel is a dark German bread 
made of unbolted rye. It is very heavy and slightly 
acid, as it is made from fermented dough. It is 



OTHER GRAINS 



69 



handled in the better class of delicatessen stores 
in this country. Sometimes it is imported from 
Germany, but usually it is made here. 

Mankind's first cereal food. Barley, another his- 
toric grain, is said to be the most ancient food of 
man. Several varieties, one the sacred barley of the 
ancients, were known to the lake dwellers of Switzer- 
land. It was cultivated, we are told in the Bible, 
in ancient Egypt, and was also the chief breadstuff 
of the Hebrews, the Greeks, and the Romans. 

Production of barley. The growing of barley is 
much more evenly distributed than that of rye. 
It is the hardiest of all cereals. It ripens in 
Norway beyond the Arctic Circle. While the limit 
of cultivation extends farther north than any other 
grain, it also flourishes in semi-tropical countries. 




?^Pcfc 



Courtesy of International Harvester Co. 

Harvesting barley in Norway. Barley can be cultivated farther 
north than any other grain 

The world's yearly production of this grain is a 
little less than that of rye, amounting to about 



70 THE STORY OF FOODS 

1,340,000,000 bushels. Almost 30 per cent of the 
total crop is grown in Russia, where it is exten- 




di field of millet. Although in the United States millet is 

used chiefly as fodder, in some places it is used 

in the same way as rice 

sively consumed as food. However, barley is 
usually grown as food for animals and for brewing 
purposes. 

The annual crop of the United States is about 
170,000,000 bushels, this country ranking second 
among the barley-producing countries of the world. 
It is interesting to note that Japan ranks fifth in 
the production of barley, raising about 85,000,000 
bushels yearly, whereas its production of other 
grains, with the exception of rice, is small. 

Value of barley as a food. Barley contains less 
protein and carbohydrates but more fats and salts 
than wheat. There is a barley bread used more on 
account of its agreeable flavor than because of any 
special food value. In the United States barley is 
used to a considerable extent in soups, or mixed, 
finely ground, with infants' foods; but the consump- 
tion of the grain in this cduntry is small. 



OTHER GRAINS 



71 



Millet at home and abroad. Millet, the smallest 
of the grain foods, is used in some localities in the 
same way as rice, but the greater part of the millet 
grown in this country is used as green fodder. The 
ripe seeds are used as poultry food. We import 
millet from Germany and Italy, where it is used 
in large quantities in soups. We use the yellow 
Italian millet to some extent for puddings. But the 
larger portion of this product is sold here as food 
for cage birds. In Peru a variety known as Guinea 
maize is grown, from which is made a white flour of 
good flavor. 

The grain that feeds one third the world. Rice is 
the most intensively cultivated of the world's grains, 
and forms the principal food supply of a large part 




Brown Bros. 

A rice field in Texas. Rice was introduced into the United States 

in 1700, the industry grew slowly, but within recent years 

the production has increased steadily 

of the population of the world. In volume the rice 
crop stands alongside that of wheat. The world's 



72 THE STORY OF FOODS 

annual production of rice amounts to about 170,- 
000,000,000 pounds, to which the United States 
contributes a little more than 600,000,000 pounds, 
or one third of one per cent. We import about 
130,000,000 pounds of rice yearly. 

Until a few years ago the United States imported 
practically all the rice we used. In the beginning 
of the industry in this country rice was produced 
only in small quantities in the Carolinas and in 




- -'" • f '.-' - ■ ,S, Jt 




Copyright, l'Jl7, by Keystone View Co. 

Cultivating a rice field in South Carolina. This state was one of 

the first in the United States to engage in the 

cultivation of this grain 

Georgia. But in recent years the cultivation of 
rice has moved to Louisiana Texas, Arkansas, and 



OTHER GRAINS 73 

California. The rice production in these states has 
gradually increased, until in 1916 the crop amounted 




■■Ty^^^Mm^Mi 



Courtesy of International Harvester Co. 

Hauling rice in the Philippines. Rice is the chief food of the 

natives and the grain produced in the islands 

is of high grade 

to almost 42,000,000 bushels or 1,176,000,000 
pounds, the yield being nearly 48 bushels per acre. 
This was the largest rice crop grown in the United 
States at that time, but undoubtedly the production 
will continue to increase. The Philippine Islands 
also produce a high grade of rice. 

It is not possible to determine accurately the 
amount of rice produced in China, but it is reasonable 
to place the yield at between 50,000,000,000 and 
60,000,000,000 pounds a year. The annual rice 
crop of British India amounts to about 70,000,000,- 
000 pounds a year, which is almost 40 per cent of 
the world's entire crop. 

Rice producers the rice consumers. The great 
rice-producing countries of Asia — China, India, and 
Japan — are also the great rice consumers. China 



74 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



consumes its entire harvest. Japan imports large 
quantities of the cheaper grades of rice and exports 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

Japanese rice planters at work. The rice is transplanted about 
two or three weeks after the sowing of the grain 

much of its grain of better quality. In many parts 
of China and Japan rice and fish and a little tea make 
up almost the entire diet of the people. 

Growing rice in the Orient. More than 50 per 
cent of the tillable land in the three main islands of 
Japan is devoted to the growing of rice. In Taiwan 
(Formosa), as in the southern part of China, two 
crops of rice are raised each year. China has almost 
eight thousand square miles more of land devoted to 
the raising of rice than is given over to the growing 
of wheat in this country. At the same time the 
Chinese are able to produce almost twice as much 
rice to the acre as we produce wheat. Thus you see 
what a wonderful rice harvest China has each year. 

Only a small percentage of the rice crop is grown 
on dry land, the greater part of it being raised in 
standing water. The rice fields are divided into 



OTHER GRAINS 75 

small plats and flooded from the irrigation canals, 
of which there are several thousand miles in China 
and Japan. Where the land is rolling, small plats 
are leveled out on the hillsides, or graded into ter- 
races, surrounded by narrow, saucer-like rims to hold 
the water. These little rice plots are cultivated with 
a thoroughness seldom, if ever, seen in our own land. 

The way in which these Orientals utilize every 
inch of ground, sparing neither time nor labor to 
obtain a good crop, is remarkable. Without modern 
machinery of any kind, they transplant practically 
every spear of rice growing on that vast area of rice 
fields. We wonder at the patience and persistence 
of the Chinese farmer, who is painfully and labori- 
ously using a foot pump to draw water from a 
canal to flood the tiny patch of land on which his 
wife and children are working. 

This irrigation is not made necessary by an excep- 
tionally dry climate — for the rainfall in many rice- 
growing sections is heavy — but because the rice 
requires an unusual amount of water. And these 
fields are continually being fertilized, not because 
the land is worn out or run down, but because the 
Orientals have learned in their four thousand years 
of farming that one cannot continually take from the 
soil without giving back, and that to feed the soil 
is surely ''casting bread upon the waters." 

Growing rice in the United States. W T hile rice 
apparently yields best on lowlands, if there is an 
abundant water supply and if the fields are prop- 
erly irrigated, large crops can be raised on land not 
naturally swampy. In the United States the most 
fruitful rice lands are in the coastal plain region of 
the Southern States. The planting of rice is done 



76 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



in America by plowing and disking the land and 
then pulverizing the soil as finely as possible. Then 

the seed is sown, either 
broadcast or with rice 
seeders, which plant 
it in drills about four 
inches apart. When 
rice grown in this way 
is about six inches tall 
the fields are flooded 
by irrigation, the water 
being allowed to re- 
main on them until the 
grain begins to mature. 
The water is then 
drained off in order to 
allow the fields to dry 
out for the harvest. 
Food value of rice. 
Rice is highly nutritious, easily digested, and very 
palatable. Yet in America the most nutritive part 
of this grain is often sacrificed for the sake of securing 
a more attractive appearance. At least this is true 
when polished rice is considered. Unpolished rice 
contains much more food value than polished rice, 
and the natural brown head rice is most valuable of all. 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone Vie 

A rice-polishing machine 



A Comparison of Food Values 



Rice 

Water 12 . 2 per cent 

Protein 8.0 

Fat 3 

Carbohydrates 79.0 

Mineral matter .4 

100.0 per cent 

The rice kernel is composed of 



Potatoes 

78 . 3 per cent 

2.2 

.1 

18.4 

1.0 



100.0 per cent 
starchy central 



OTHER GRAINS 



77 




portion, around which is a delicate, nutritious cov- 
ering. When the housewife learns to prefer the 
unpolished rice, especially the natural brown rice, she 
will get more food of 
this kind for the same 
money and the men in 
the rice industry will 
be saved the labor and 
expense of polishing. 
The unpolished grain 
is dull of color, and has 
a white, dusty appear- 
ance. The polished 
rice is a shining white 
product that glistens. 

__ . j . ,j Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

Kice used. Ill varied. Stones for hulling rice and removing 
ways. Rice is used in the chaff 

a great variety of ways. It will furnish a substantial 
base for a meal, or can be made into a dainty des- 
sert. An excellent soup can be made with it and a 
still better pudding. It is both pleasing and health- 
ful. In one respect rice stands almost alone — it is 
a favorite food with all races, because it receives 
readily the characteristics of any desired flavor. 
The Italian, who likes rich foods, prepares rice with 
oils and finds the dish suited to his palate. The 
Mexican uses rice with chili to produce the "hot" 
sensation he likes with his food. The Englishman 
takes it highly spiced with fruit sirups, and the 
American uses it with tomatoes and soups. 

America makes and imports large quantities of rice 
flour and rice meal. In Japan and China rice flour 
is used for making bread and other articles of food. 



Chapter V 

BREAKFAST FOODS 

Evolution of the breakfast. The breakfast of 
to-day bears little resemblance to that of twenty 
or thirty years ago. In fact, a great industry has 
grown out of the changes that have come over our 
morning meal within that period. Many millions 
of dollars are now spent every year for breakfast 
foods either unknown or neglected a decade ago. 

Probably no other meal has been so completely 
revolutionized by modern inventions as breakfast. 
In the main it has been changed from a heavy and 
unattractive offering of food to a light and whole- 
some meal. This evolution of the morning meal 
has meant more perhaps to the children than to any 
other members of the family. Is it not true that the 
refinement of breakfast foods has made the break- 
fast hour almost as much ''the children's hour" as 
is twilight at the close of day? Because it has had 
much to do with the better nourishment of children, 
the modern breakfast food has brought about a 
wholesome change in the diet of practically all 
civilized peoples. 

If the millions of dollars this country expends 
every year for breakfast foods had been paid for the 
research work necessary to develop them, that 
investment would have been justified because of the 
beneficial effect of this form of food upon the world 
of children and invalids. 

The beginnings of breakfast food. Until a few 
years ago "porridge" and mush were about the 

78 



BREAKFAST FOODS 



79 



only forms in which grains were commonly served 
as breakfast food, unless pancakes could be classed 
under this head. An old Eng- 
lish dish, known as frumenty, 
was made by boiling wheat 
kernels with milk and spices. 
But the American breakfast 
table was slow to receive the 
cereal breakfast food. Not until 
it was refined into a really ap- 
petizing food and brought to the 
attention of all the American 
people through national adver- 
tising did it become popular. 

Preparation of present-day 
breakfast foods. To-day cere- 
als are prepared for the break- 
fast table 
in many 
artful ways. 

They are puffed, rolled, cracked, 
ground, shredded, malted, and 
flaked. In speaking of the ways 
in which these breakfast foods 
are prepared the United States 
Department of Agriculture says: 
"The ready-to-eat brands are 
prepared in a great variety of 
ways. Some are probably sim- 
ply cooked in water and then 
dried and crushed; some are 
made of a mixture of different 
grains; some have common salt, 

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. Agr. « . , , , 

A bunch of oats malt > and apparently sugar, 





Courtesy of U. S. Dept. Agr. 

A bunch of wheat 



80 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



molasses, or other carbohydrate material added to 
them; some probably contain caramel or other 
similar coloring matter. Those with a flake-like 
appearance are made like rolled grains, save that 





rflpP- 


■DBV fl 


1 






'■■NHI 








JMK 




jKB&£* - __ 










\3>***- 




B*V%^fcv i '-art^t Liaf-*j-iii*"ir~~y ir-'i 


-Aa »^JB ' pi 



Toasting oven used in the manufacture of ready-to-eat breakfast 

foods. Toasting not only makes the food crisper 

but adds color and flavor 

the cooking is continued longer. Those which look 
like dried crumbs are probably made into a dough, 
baked, crushed, and browned. The shredded prep- 
arations are made with special machinery which 
tears the steam-cooked kernels into shreds and 
deposits them in layers or bundles. Very many of 



BREAKFAST FOODS 81 

the ready-to-eat cereals are parched or toasted before 
packing. This gives them a darker color, makes 
them more crisp, and imparts a flavor which many 
persons relish." 

The process by which puffed foods are made is 
possibly the most interesting and ingenious of all. 
The kernels of the grains to be puffed are carefully 
cleaned and then cooked with live steam in a gunlike 
cylinder. When the steam has thoroughly satu- 
rated the kernels and raised them to a terrific heat, 
they are shot from this gunlike cylinder into cold 
air. As a result the heat that is within the kernels 
causes them to swell or puff to several times their 
natural size. 

Growing and marketing oats for breakfast food. 
As oats undoubtedly furnished the first cereal break- 
fast food, let us study the preparation of this grain 
for our breakfast table. 

This is the story of a two-pound can of rolled 
oats. The oats which went into this can were har- 
vested in an Illinois field. They were cut, bundled, 
dropped to the ground by a clicking reaper, then 
bound, shocked, and stacked. After they had cured 
in the sun, so that they would not sweat when put 
into elevators, the oats were threshed and hauled 
to market. 

Testing the oats. The oats were then put into an 
elevator, hauled up into a high bin, by a long belt 
set with iron cups or pockets, which operated in a 
hollow, boxlike shaft. From the elevator they were 
finally shot down through a tube into a grain car. 
This car carried them to a large city where they were 
sidetracked. The next morning an inspector came 
and took three samples of the oats in the car, one 



82 THE STORY OF FOODS 

from each end and one from the middle. He took 
these samples in order to test their milling qualities. 
Millers always carefully test oats to see whether 
they are properly cured and whether they have suffi- 
cient density and weight so that they will mill into 
a good product. Should the oats not meet their 
requirements, they are rejected. 

Through the cleaning machines. As the samples 
in this case were found to be satisfactory, the oats 
were accepted and hauled to the mill, where they were 
sucked through big iron pipes into large storage bins. 
But they were soon taken from the bins and sent 
through a cleaning machine having many parts. 
One section of this machine consists of shaking 
screens which remove the wild mustard seed which 
is mixed with the oats. Another part tosses the 
oats about in strong blasts of air, which blow the 
chaff, grass seed, and other impurities from them. 
Still another section of this machine sucks the oats 
through a big shaft and lets the stones and heavier 
elements drop into a box below. 

What kiln drying does for oats. From the clean- 
ing machine the oats were sent through the ''clip- 
per," where their tails were cut off. Next they were 
sent to the kiln drier where hot air, coming through 
the floor, kept blowing them up in the air and 
stirring them about. There are other ways of kiln 
drying, one of which is to put the oats through a 
machine something like a coffee roaster. Still 
another method is to dry them in big open pans over 
the fire, as tea is sometimes fired. The first way, 
however, is the quickest, requiring only about three 
quarters of an hour for a carload. This drying, or 
roasting, develops the flavor of the oats, just as it 



BREAKFAST FOODS 



83 



does with coffee. The oils in their tiny cells are 
released and flavor the whole grain. The mill with 
the best roasting system makes the best oatmeal, 
rolled oats, or other cereal. 

Hulled, steamed, and rolled. From the dry kiln 
our oats went through a huller, which is the cleverest 
piece of machinery in the modern milling plant. 
The grains passed through its rollers and were 



~" V 


^^'^ 


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irc /Ag C00& room of a great mill where a ready-to-eat breakfast 
food is manufactured 

jostled about just enough to remove their coats. 
Those which slipped through without having their 
hulls removed were automatically "tailed back" or 
sent through again by the machine. Some went 
through three or more times. The hulls were blown 
away by air blasts. When the oats came out of 
that machine they were called "groats." 

The next process was that of steaming the oats 
for about twenty minutes to make them soft for 



84 THE STORY OF FOODS 

their passage between the big polished steel rollers. 
They were still moist with the steam when sent 
through the rollers and flattened into flakes. 

Packed, labeled, and sterilized. Some of the 
oats were passed to a machine which put them into 
cardboard boxes, sealed the boxes, and placed labels 
on them, all without their being touched by human 
hands. Next they went into a sterilizing room 
having a network of hot steam pipes. Here the 
packages were dried under a heat sufficient to ster- 
ilize them thoroughly and kill any unwholesome 
germ that might, by any possibility, have survived. 

But the oats we are following were not put into a 
package. They were sent to a big press which forced 
them into a tin can under great pressure. There 
were two pounds put into that can, which was then 
sealed and sent to the sterilizing room. 

In the Antarctic. Suppose our two-pound can, 
whose history we have been following, was one of 
the cans bought by Captain Scott and Lieutenant 
Shackleton and put aboard their ship which, in 1901, 
made a dash for the South Pole. The good ship 
was on the water for many, many days and was 
finally frozen in the ice of the Antarctic Ocean, 
where it was held prisoner for two winters. During 
that time many cans of oats were eaten by the brave 
explorers. The men had a terrible time, and suffered 
much from cold and hunger; but they were deter- 
mined not to die of starvation, so they were very 
frugal of the oats, because they did not know how 
great might yet be their need. It was a hard struggle 
for them to keep life within their bodies. The men 
greatly needed a more generous allowance of food, 
yet they hoarded their provisions. 



BREAKFAST FOODS 



85 



How long oats keep. When they finally escaped 
from that awful ice prison and sailed back to sunny 
waters and to civilization, two cans of the oats were 
unopened. These were brought back and exhibited. 
Finally, to determine whether or not the oats were 
still sweet one can was opened. The contents were 
pronounced as pure and good as ever! The other 
can is being shown to thousands of people each 




Harvesting oats in a field that a year before was free range. 

Thousands of acres of grazing lands in our western states are 

now yielding cereals which, converted into breakfast 

foods, are shipped to all parts of the world 

year. In 1917 it was about seventeen years old, and 
some day, perhaps, it will be opened before many 
people, and then eaten. 

Who can tell where the remainder of the oats 
from that Illinois field went? Can you imagine? 
Perhaps they went to Iceland or Siberia, to Tas- 
mania or South Africa, or perhaps some of them 
may have been served on your table, or on mine. 



86 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Why cereal foods are popular. Oats, wheat, 
corn, rice, and barley prepared in many ways and 
mixed into numberless combinations give the Amer- 
ican a wide range of breakfast cereals from which 
to choose. All are nutritious, none contain harmful 
adulterants, and practically all are palatable and 
tempting to the average man or woman, boy or girl. 
Because these foods reach the consumer in a con- 
venient, sanitary, and attractive form and because 
they furnish simple, abundant nourishment at low 
cost, they are daily growing more popular in this 
country. We are consuming millions of dollars' 
worth of them each year. We also export great 
quantities of this class of food to all parts of the 
world. 

"Made in U. S. A." America is the home of the 
breakfast food. It is a far cry from pioneer days 
and the original American breakfast food, the samp 
and hominy of the red man, to the breakfast foods 
of the present time. In the United States to-day 
many great mills and factories and thousands and 
thousands of men and women, boys and girls are 
busy preparing wholesome, convenient, and nourish- 
ing cereal foods for the tables of the whole world. 
Those who grow the grains from which these foods 
are made, those who help in their manufacture, and 
those who sell them, are all entitled to feel that 
they have a worthy part in giving the world a most 
welcome addition to its food supply. 



Chapter VI 

FRUITS 

Countries known by their fruits. Aside from its 
people, there is perhaps nothing that gives to a 
country or a locality so personal and distinctive a 
touch as its fruits. The mere mention of the word 
California seldom fails to bring to mind a picture of 
dark green trees hung with golden oranges. The fig 
is inseparably associated with Turkey and the date 
with Persia and Arabia, while Panama or any of the 
Central American countries suggests great clusters 
of bananas to the mind of the average boy or girl 
of the United States. 

Man's wants the motive power of industry. The 
earth's pleasant fruits are about the most interest- 
ing teachers of geography we could possibly choose. 
They are capable of opening up to us a world of 
information about the soil, the climate, and the 
people of their particular regions. If you do not 
see how the fruits of a country can throw any special 
light upon the character of its people, remember that 
the abundance of wild fruits of a highly nutritive 
character in certain tropical countries has more to 
do with making the natives indolent and improvident 
than almost any other cause. Why work when 
wild fruits, capable of sustaining life, are to be had 
for the picking? And why provide for the future 
when nature alone does that, by loading the forest 
trees and shrubs and the jungle thickets with such 
an astonishing variety of fruits that every season's 
dinner is always at hand? This is certainly more 

87 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



than a hint as to how the fruits of a region influence 
the character of the inhabitants. 

Geography by way of fruit store and peddler. 

No geographic excur- 
sion, easily recruited 
and carried out, is 
likely to yield you any 
more pleasure and 
knowledge than an in- 
vasion of some large 
city fruit market. If 
you take such a trip 
under the guidance of 
your teacher and under 
conditions favorable to 
learning something 
about the things you 
see, you will surely 
return with a fund of 
knowledge that will 
surprise and delight 
you. Such an excursion will throw an entirely 
new light upon the subject of geography. 

There is still another way of getting an interesting 
insight into the geographic realm which fruits will 
open to you. This is by persuading a fruit man 
from a foreign country to talk to you. Almost any 
Italian or Greek fruit peddler who remained in his 
native country until grown, if he speaks intelligible 
English, is capable of giving you a talk on the fruits 
of his country that will give you a nearer view of 
his native land than you could get in almost any 
other way. In some ways his talk will be more 
interesting because his life in the Old Country was 




Courtesy of George C. Roedinn 

Capri figs growing on an 
embankment 



FRUITS 



89 



spent in manual work instead of in study. This 
means that he has worked among the fruit trees and 
shrubs himself and knows by personal experience 
all about their habits and the methods of cultivating 
them. 

One of the most interesting talks to which the 
writer ever listened was made by a Dalmatian who 
vividly pictured the beauty of the terraced fruit 
gardens of his mountain home so laboriously built 
up with leaf-mold retained by stone walls. He 
taught geography with a realism that fixed the 
scene and facts permanently in the memory of his 
hearer. His regard for the fruits of his country was 
somewhat like the affection he had for its people. 





One of the fifteen hundred descendants of the wild crabapple 

Apples a temperate zone fruit. Let us now con- 
sider a fruit of about fifteen hundred varieties which 



90 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



ripens into a myriad hues and possesses a wonderful 
range of flavors that please the whole world's taste. 




Apple blossom time in a commercial orchard in Michigan. This is 
one of the greatest of our apple-producing states 

The apple? Of course! It is perhaps the oldest 
of all temperate zone fruits. Our present varieties 
have all been developed from the wild apple, of which 
the wild crabapple is possibly the only surviving 
type. Although the apple is found in certain alti- 
tudes of the torrid zone, its real home is in the tem- 
perate zone, where it has a wide distribution. 

We export many thousand barrels of fresh apples 
and many million pounds of dried apples each year. 
These products are sent to almost every country 
in the world. It would not be possible to name 



FRUITS 



91 



every country to which apples are sent from our 
ports, but the heaviest shipments are to the British 
Isles, France, Germany, Russia, and Australia. 

Apples in the United States. It is hardly possible 
to give an accurate estimate of the quantity of apples 
produced and consumed in this country in a year. 
There are millions of apple trees bearing fruit in the 
United States. It is said that if all the apples grown 
in this country in a year were placed in cars they 
would make a train that would reach from Chicago 
to San Francisco. The United States leads the 
world in the production of this wonderful fruit. 
But we must remember that the apple is only one 
of the many fruits 
raised and consumed 
in America. 

Pears. Pears are 
almost as universally 
grown as apples, and 
are to be found in 
every fruit store. 
There are nearly a 
thousand different va- 
rieties of pears. Some 
pears are almost as 
small as a thimble and 
on the island of Jersey 
are grown pears of 
enormous size which 
have sold for as high 
as six and seven dollars each in London. Find the 
island of Jersey on your map. Pears grow wild in 
Southern and Eastern Europe and generally through- 
out Asia. Like apples, pears are grown in almost 




*>■ 



Picking Kieffer pears in Colorado 



92 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



every state in the Union, and are exported mainly 
to the British Isles and the continent of Europe, 
although many other countries receive small quan- 
tities of them. 

Peaches. The peach is considered by many the 
most delicious of all fruits and its excellent flavor 
justifies this high opinion of it. A member of the 
almond family, it is a native of Western Asia, but 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Peach orchards in one of the most fertile valleys of Colorado 

has responded to influences of the soil and cultiva- 
tion in this country to such an extent that the 
peaches grown here are considered as fine as any the 
world produces. Because the peach will not keep 
under ordinary conditions we find that our peach 
exports consist almost entirely of the dried fruit. 
In American horticulture perhaps the most re- 
markable recent achievement is the propagation 



FRUITS 93 

of a distinctly new type of peach that promises 
to revolutionize the shipping possibilities of fresh 
peaches. This wonderful peach stands long ship- 
ment practically as well as the more tender varieties 
of apples. Severe tests of its ability to stand up 
under long and hard journeys have been made and 
it has been found that it can be sent from coast to 
coast without suffering any marked decline in its 
condition. This means that many places, remote 
from shipping centers, which have been obliged to 
go without fresh peaches, need do so no longer. A 
long ocean voyage is easily possible for this new 
peach, which is large and of fine texture and flavor. 
It also possesses the peculiar attraction of having a 
skin that is practically without fuzz. 

The nectarine, a cousin to the peach. The nec- 
tarine is a highly prized variety of the peach family 
which can be grown only in warm climates. Cali- 
fornia and her sister states on the Pacific coast pro- 
duce the greater part of the supply grown in this 
country. The nectarine can be successfully grown 
in the North only under glass. 

Plums, native and cultivated. Our plum is said 
to have come from the European sloe or blackthorn. 
The sloe has a blue fruit, a little smaller than our 
wild plum. The plum is cultivated in many parts 
of our country and grows wild in almost every state. 
No doubt you have picked wild plums; if you have 
you know something of the fun that the boys of 
Europe have in gathering the wild sloe. 

There are three general classes of plums cultivated 
in this country : the purple, the red, and the yellow 
or green plum. The loquat, a small, yellow, oval- 
shaped, plumlike fruit now grown in America, is a 



FRUITS 95 

native of Japan. When ripe it is pleasing in taste, 
and may be eaten either raw or cooked. 

Prune plums. Prunes are dried plums of a partic- 
ular variety. They are grown especially for the mak- 
ing of prunes and even when fresh are called prunes 
by the growers. Until about twenty-five years ago 
almost our entire supply of prunes came from 
Europe; from France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, and 
Austria-Hungary. Now our Western States not only 
supply our own wants but export many tons of this 
fruit to the European countries. But there is still 
a market here for fancy prunes, which we import 
from France. These French prunes are considered 
especially choice and delicious. That we import a 
certain commodity from a particular country to 
which we export that same kind of food is some- 
times explained by the fact that our own naturalized 
citizens or alien visitors from that country demand 
the "home article" because they are fond of its dis- 
tinctive flavor. Thus does a commercial demand 
for a food emphasize the fact that we are a nation 
made up of people from almost every part of the earth. 

The cherry at home and abroad. Is there one 
among us that does not hail with delight the arrival 
of that delicious early summer fruit, the cherry? 
Cherry season has pleasant associations for the men 
and women, boys and girls who have had the privi- 
lege of visiting, at picking time, the localities where 
cherries are grown. Though the cherry is a small 
fruit it does not occupy a small place in the diet of 
the human race. In some parts of the world, in 
fact, it is a really important part of the food supply. 
In France, there are forest regions where the cherry 
is an important item in the food of the people. 



96 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



There the gathering of wild cherries is a big event 
in the year. In Germany, in the valley of the Rhine, 




scene in Japan in cherry blossotn time 



the schools are closed during the cherry season, so 
that the children may help their parents harvest 
this delicious fruit. Though a native of Persia, the 
cherry is now cultivated all over the world. It is 
said that the Romans of long ago cultivated several 
different varieties of cherries. In Japan the cherry 
is extensively grown for its beautiful pink blossoms. 
Food uses of the quince. The quince is a member 
of the pear and apple family and is native to Asia. 
It is now widely cultivated and may be found in 
most civilized countries of the temperate zone and 
the tropics. The majority of the quinces raised in 
this country are grown in western New York. While 
the quince is seldom eaten raw, it makes an excellent 
jelly and is much used by the housewife for flavoring 
preserves, jellies, and jams. The quince has long 



FRUITS 97 

been a favorite fruit of mankind. It was popular 
with the ancient Greeks and Romans. 

The apricot. The apricot is a small yellow fruit 
which looks something like a peach, though it belongs 
to the same family as the plum. Like the peach and 
the plum it may be eaten raw, preserved, or dried. 
This fruit was introduced into Europe during the 
time of Alexander the Great. Now California pro- 
duces many thousand tons of apricots a year. There 
are a number of factories in that state devoted to 
drying and canning apricots. In one year the United 
States exported more than 35,000,000 pounds of 
dried apricots, which were shipped to all parts of the 
world. The fancy trade of this country, however, 
still demands the importation of a small amount of 
dried and candied apricots from France and from 
Italy. 

Oranges. There are two kinds of oranges — the 
bitter and the sweet. The bitter orange, known 
as both the Seville and the Bigarade orange, was 
the first orange known and was brought by the 
Moors to Spain in the eighth century. Not until 
the fifteenth century did Europe become acquainted 
with the sweet orange. Both the bitter and the 
sweet oranges were introduced into Florida, where 
they thrived wonderfully. But, because the sweet 
oranges were much preferred by the American people, 
practically no bitter oranges are now grown in this 
country. While oranges will grow in many of our 
southern states, they thrive best in Florida and 
California, where many millions are raised each 
year. Although we still import oranges from 
Europe, Asia, and Central America, our exports 
of oranges greatly exceed our imports. 



98 THE STORY OF FOODS 

There are several varieties of fancy sweet oranges, 
of which the Satsuma, the tangerine, the mandarin, 
navel, Valencia, St. Michael, and the King of Siam 
are the most familiar. The kumquat is a tiny orange, 
the size of a small plum and generally oval in 
shape, which we have imported from Japan. The 
Japanese and Chinese in our country are now cultivat- 
ing it. The fruit is acid with a sweet rind usually 
eaten with the pulp. This fruit has met with great 
favor in Europe and is also much appreciated in this 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 



One of the great orange groves in southern California. More than ten 
thousand acres are here planted to navel oranges 

country. The preserved or candied kumquat is ex- 
cellent and is a favorite sweetmeat of the Chinese. 



FRUITS 



99 



Lemons and limes. The lemon is so familiar a 
fruit that it has achieved a permanent place in the 




L_ J— 1 

Courtesy of U.S. Dept. Agr. 

Washing lemons by machinery. Lemons are usually picked once a 

month. They are then washed, sorted according to color, and 

the unripe and partly ripe fruit stored to color and mature 

slang of our country. While we produce a great 
quantity of lemons, we still import many from 
Europe. The lemon, like the pear, is best picked 
when green and allowed to ripen off the tree. 

The lime, a member of the lemon family, is much 
smaller than our lemon. It grows best in the West 
Indies and India, but a limited supply is grown in 
the United States and in Europe. The lime is grow- 
ing in popularity and its use in place of the lemon 
is steadily increasing in this country. Limes are so 
aromatic they almost seem to have been perfumed. 

The ginep, or Spanish lime, is a fruit which looks 
like a plum but tastes like a grape. Both the flesh 



100 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



and seeds of this fruit are eaten, the latter some- 
times being roasted and eaten as we eat nuts. 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

Gathzring limes in the West Indies 

The grapefruit or pomelo. The grapefruit is the 
largest member of the citrus family as the kumquat 
is the smallest. The orange, lemon, kumquat, lime, 
citron, citrange, and grapefruit all belong to the 
citrus family. The grapefruit, also known as the 
pomelo, is said to have been introduced into Florida 



FRUITS 101 

by the Spanish. It is called grapefruit because it 
hangs from the tree in clusters as grapes hang from 
the vine. We get this fruit chiefly from California, 
Florida, and the West Indies. Porto Rico sends us 
annually increasing quantities of it. 

Other citrous fruits. There is also a fruit known 
as the Bengal quince or the elephant apple which is 
said to be of the citrus family. Another fruit prob- 
ably of the citrus family is the bergamot of Southern 
Europe, a somewhat pear-shaped fruit which seems 
to be a cross between a lemon and an orange. 

The citron, another member of the citrus family, 
is said to be a native of the island of Corsica, the 
birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. 

Olives, green and ripe. No doubt all of us have 
tasted pickled olives, and perhaps some of us have 
eaten ripe olives. Then, too, olive oil is doubtless 
familiar to you. But do you know how the olive 
grows, where it comes from, and what is its history? 
This question becomes an interesting and important 
one when we remember that we sometimes import 
more than 5,000,000 gallons of olives in a single 
year and more than 6,000,000 gallons of olive oil 
in the same time. 

You are all familiar with the green olives which 
come in bottles, either plain or stuffed with peppers 
or anchovies, and packed in brine. In Southern 
Spain, where the finest green olives are produced, 
the fruit for pickling sometimes grows as large as 
plums. Ripe olives are of a dark brown color. 
Their use is becoming more common in this country 
every year. In fact, on the Pacific coast where the 
olive is grown, few green olives are used, the ripe 
ones being much preferred. 



102 THE STORY OF FOODS 



The Bible speaks often of olives, as does ancient 
history. It is doubtful if there are many fruits 



91 





An olive orchard near Fresno, California. This state produces 
the largest part of the olives raised in the United States 

that have been known to man longer than the olive. 
Originally the olive came from Asia Minor, but it is 
now raised extensively in our Southwestern States 
and in all the countries of Europe bordering the 
Mediterranean. The olive grows on a large ever- 
green tree which bears a heavy mass of greenish- 
gray leaves. It thrives best in a dry, subtropical 
region. The trees sometimes reach the age of fifteen 
hundred years. It is claimed that certain olive trees 
in France are two thousand years old. 

Two kinds of persimmons. The United States 
and Japan both produce persimmons. A young lad in 
far off Japan picks, from a small tree, a sweet, juicy 



FRUITS 



103 



persimmon, the size of a large peach; while the 
lad in our Southern States scales a tall tree, 
perhaps fifty feet high, to get a persimmon the 
size of a small plum. Both of these persimmons, 
however, when thoroughly ripe are as sweet as sugar- 
plums, and are keenly appreciated by the boys who 
gather them. 

The pomegranate. The pomegranate, which is 
now cultivated quite extensively in Turkey, and in 
fact in nearly all other warm countries, is a native 
of Persia. The pomegranate tree has showy flowers 
of an orange-red color and bears a fruit about the 
size of a big apple, which has a reddish-yellow rind. 
This fruit is made into sirups and wines in Persia 
and its seeds are considered of medicinal value. 
The pomegranate is highly valued in the Levant. 
Perhaps it would be interesting to you to ask the 




Courtesy of George C. Roedins 

A pomegranate vender on the pontoon bridge that spans the 
Tigris River at Bagdad 

elder members of your family if they can tell you 
something about the Levant and just where it is. 



104 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The fig and where it is grown. It will also afford 
you constant entertainment at home to start a guess- 
ing contest as to what countries grow each kind of 
fruit that is brought to your home. For example, 
what one fruit is raised chiefly in Smyrna, in Turkey, 
in Greece, in Dalmatia, in Italy, in California, 
Louisiana, and Texas? The fig! 

The history of the fig is as old as that of the apple. 
There are more than a hundred varieties of figs. In 
its natural state the fig is a small pear-shaped fruit 
with a tough skin, which varies in color from almost 
white to a dark purple. The fruit is eaten fresh, 
preserved in sirup, and dried. While the dried fig 
is the most popular form in this country, California 




Irrigating a fig orchard in California. The fig industry is increasing 
steadily in importance in California and the South 

is now putting up many gallons of figs in sirup each 
year. Although California, Louisiana, and Texas 



FRUITS 



105 



raise large crops of figs, the United States still 
imports many million pounds of this fruit annually. 




Fresh Calimyrna figs packed ready for shipment. These California 
figs are unsurpassed in quality 

In one year we bought more than 13,000,000 pounds 
of figs from Asiatic Turkey alone and millions of 
pounds from Greece and Italy. We have also 
imported figs from Egypt and from French Africa. 
An immigrant wasp and his work. No doubt you 
have at some time asked yourself the question, 
"Of what use are wasps?" Let me tell you about 
the fig wasp, without which we should not be able 
to have the fine variety of figs we get from Smyrna 
and from the vicinity of Fresno, California. The 
finest fig trees require " caprification " ; that is, they 
must be visited by the wasp which carries the pollen 
of the capri fig into the blossom of the fruiting tree. 
If this wasp does not visit the fig tree it will not fruit 



106 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



properly. How a plucky California horticulturist 
introduced this wonderful wasp into his fig orchard, 
at an expense of thousands of dollars, is one of the 
most interesting of all food ' 'immigrant" stories. 




Brown Bros. 

Gathering fruit from a date palm in Arizona. Soil and climatic 

conditions in certain areas of Arizona and California are 

especially suited to the date and its cultivation is increasing 

It made possible the production of figs of the finest 
qualities, and put the American fig industry on a 
permanent commercial basis. 

The date palm and the date. It is difficult to pic- 
ture an oasis in the Sahara without at once seeing the 
tall, green-topped date palm. It would also be hard 
to imagine how the wandering tribesman, ranging 



FRUITS 107 

this great sea of drifting sand, could live were it not 
for the date palms which offer shelter and food to 
the traveler. It is not only a blessing in itself but 
in the heart of the desert it affords shade and pro- 
tection so that figs, almonds, and other trees and 
vegetation will thrive there. 

The date palm will flourish under conditions where 
nothing else would grow, yielding a life-giving food 
in the heart of a sun-baked desert of sand. It is 
almost the only tree or plant to which alkali is not 
injurious. In the "Sunken Gardens " of the Algerian 
Sahara grow the Deglet Noor dates, which are consid- 
ered the choicest in the world. These trees appear 
to be half buried in the drifting sands. They are fed 
by an abundant supply of underground water. 

Not only does the date palm furnish food to the 
natives of Persia, Arabia, and Northern Africa, but 
its wood and leaves are used by them in a variety 
of ways. It begins to bear when about six years of 
age and will continue to produce fruit until it is 
more than a hundred years old. In the arid South- 
west of our own country there is an extensive and 
flourishing plantation of date palms. 

United States merchants annually import almost 
35,000,000 pounds of dates, of which nearly seven 
eighths are purchased from Asiatic Turkey. A large 
percentage of the dates from Smyrna are raised in 
Arabia. Dates are raised also in China, Spain, Mex- 
ico, Greece, the West Indies, and the East Indies. 

The banana. The banana is undoubtedly the 
most productive fruit plant known. We cannot 
properly call the banana plant a tree, because it is 
cut down every year, growing up again from the 
roots or stump. You have seen the great bunches 



108 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



of bananas hanging in stores, and in imagination 
you may have seen them growing on large trees. 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

A banana plantation in Costa Rica. Although a native of the West 
Indies, the banana is now grown in almost all tropical countries 

But more than likely your mental picture was not 
correct, for when growing the fruit points upwards, 
not downwards as you see them hanging in stores. 
The banana is a native of the West Indies, but is 
now grown in almost all tropical countries. There 
are two special varieties, yellow and red. The 



FRUITS 



109 



fruit is harvested, shipped, and marketed while 
green. In fact, the wholesale fruit houses always 
buy their bananas green and ripen them in banana 
rooms which are kept warm and dark. 

The carambola, an East India fruit. An East 
India fruit that will no doubt interest you is the 
carambola, also called the Coromandel gooseberry. 
This fruit is usually about the size of an egg and has 
a thin, smooth, yellow skin. It has a variety of 
flavors, from sweet to sour, and is a general favorite 
wherever found. It is eaten raw, cooked, or pickled. 

The avocado or alligator pear. If you were to 
make a journey into Central America you would 
see there a fine spreading evergreen tree whose oval 




The avocado or alligator pear is eaten chiefly as a salad, with 
salt, pepper, and vinegar 

leaves shade its large, green, pear-shaped fruit. This 
is the avocado, or alligator pear tree, which grows 



110 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



also in Florida and California. While the avocado 
is a fruit it is eaten chiefly as a salad, and is treated 
more like a cucumber than a fruit. It is peeled and 
eaten with salt, pepper, and vinegar, or served with 
salad dressing. The taste for alligator pears is 
usually acquired. Their popularity in this country, 
however, is shown by the fact that they often 
sell for seventy cents apiece. The avocado is not 
a very large fruit, averaging about a pound in 
weight. There is no other food, perhaps, which has 
been given such a variety of names. It is known, 
for example, as the maya and the ' 'custard apple." 

Spanish, French, Aztec, 
English, Carib, Ger- 
man, and Latin all 
have had special names 
for it. In fact, it is 
called by forty-three 
different names in eight 
different languages. 

The mango. Per- 
haps the most widely 
discussed fruit of the 
tropics is the mango. 
Although it is said to 
be a native of South- 
ern Europe, it is now 
grown in almost every 
tropical country in 
the world and is pro- 
duced in many sizes, 
shapes, and colors. It 
flavored fruit, soft and difficult to 




Brown Bros. 

Gathering mangoes. Our supply 

comes from Mexico, the West 

Indies, and Florida 



is a delicately 

keep, but delicious when eaten like a cantaloupe 



FRUITS 111 

Unlike the cantaloupe, however, it has a stone to be 
removed. The mango is a most popular fruit in the 
South, and in the larger cities of the North, where 
it is sold by high-class fruit houses. 

The mangosteen. Among tropical fruits none is 
more interesting than the 
mangosteen. It is claimed by 
some to be the finest of all 
fruits. The mangosteen is not 
widely known because it will 
not stand transportation. It 
is a small fruit with a thick 



rind and a soft, rose-colored courtesy of u.s.Dept.A gr . 

pulp. It is not only unsur- iCZftZm & 
passed in taste but is said surrounded by the 

to be especially wholesome. thick rind 

The sapodilla. Another tropical fruit is the sapo- 
dilla, which looks much like a russet apple and con- 
tains a soft, sweet pulp. It is eaten either raw or 
cooked. 

Breadfruit and how it grows. Still another impor- 
tant tropical fruit is the breadfruit. If you were 
to go to Central America to gather breadfruit you 
would find great trees with peculiar fern-shaped 
leaves, below which hang bunches of large green 
fruit, bigger than your head. The breadfruit has a 
heavy rind, inside of which is a white starchy mass 
that looks very much like bread dough. But when 
this fruit is boiled, sliced, and served with butter, it 
is very good indeed, tasting not unlike sweet potato. 

There is also a false breadfruit, or ceriman, as it 
is sometimes called. The ceriman is shaped like a 
large ear of corn, and when the husky skin is removed 
the fruit is delicious. 



112 THE STORY OF FOODS 

The guava and its uses. Just imagine now that 
you are traveling in the tropics — let us say in 
Mexico — and that you have found a guava tree. 
The fruit on this tree is possibly the size of a small 
tomato. It may, however, be larger or smaller, as 
there are about a hundred different varieties of this 
fruit found in tropical America. It may be red and 
shaped like an apple or it may be yellow and 
shaped like a pear. Like many other fruits, it may 
be eaten raw, cooked, preserved, or made into an 
excellent jelly. This fruit is seldom eaten in its 
fresh state in temperate climates, because, like 
many other delicious tropical fruits, it cannot be 
transported long distances. 

Other fruits of tropical America. While you lin- 
ger, in imagination, in tropical America you might 
also taste the fruits of the Spanish bayonet, the 
sweet sop, the sour sop, the Cashew apple, the 
pepino, and the cherimoya. There also you would 
find the true papia or papaya, which is often con- 
fused with our papaw. The tropical papia looks 
something like a muskmelon, while the papaw of 
the United States outwardly resembles a short, 
thick banana. 

The plantain. In many tropical countries, the 
plantain, a fruit which tastes like a vegetable, serves 
as a food staple, taking the place of grains and root 
vegetables. It belongs to the banana family, but 
it is flat, and much larger and coarser than the 
banana. The plantain has little flavor, and is 
seldom eaten raw. When roasted or baked, it is 
considered appetizing and nutritious. The plantain 
is also dried and ground into a flour which serves 
many food purposes. 



FRUITS 



113 



The prickly pear and other cactus fruits. You 
should be careful not to confuse the prickly pear 




Brown Bros. 

A field of prickly pear or spineless cactus in the fruiting season. 

The finer grades of fruit afford an excellent article of food 

and the coarser provide fine food for cattle 

with the avocado, to which it is in no way related. 
The prickly pear is the fruit of the Opuntia family, 
one of the cacti. The fruit, except that of the 
spineless variety, is usually armed with many tiny 
thorns or spears. This fruit is eaten in much the 
same manner as the avocado. The fruit is of various 
colors — red, yellow, purple, and green. In Mexico 
and Sicily, the poor people look upon the prickly 
pear with great respect, as it forms an important part 
of their food supply and is used in many difierent 
ways — as fruit, as salad, and as jelly. The juice 
of the prickly pear is made into a pleasing drink. 
Other fruits belonging to the cactus family are 

8 



114 THE STORY OF FOODS 

the Mexican strawberry, the strawberry pear, the 
Barbados gooseberry, and the melon thistle. 

The Mexican strawberry is a small fruit about two 
inches long and one inch in diameter, of a reddish- 
yellow color, and is the fruit of the hedgehog cactus. 

The taste of a strawberry pear might lead you to 
think that you were eating a strawberry, although 
it is not as delicate in flavor as the strawberry and 
is perhaps a trifle sourer. It is bright red in color 
and shaped something like a pear. The strawberry 
pear is the fruit of the torch cactus, which takes its 
name from its long, brilliantly colored flowers. 

If you saw Barbados gooseberries hanging from 
a certain cactus found in the West Indies you would 
probably think them misplaced gooseberries, so 
much do they resemble that fruit in appearance. 
Although their flavor is distinctly different from that 
of our gooseberry, if you tasted them you would not 
be disappointed. 

The fruit of another cactus plant, the melon thistle, 
looks much like one of our favorite melons. This 
fruit, small and pearlike in shape, resembles a musk- 
melon and has a delightful flavor. The plant in 
some cases attains a height of two feet. 

In the future when you hear some one speak of 
the cactus you will think not alone of the huge, 
thorny, spike-covered stumps rearing their grotesque 
shapes above the hot sand of the desert, but of 
various plants, trees, shrubs, and vines, which fur- 
nish both man and beast with pleasing food. 

The pineapple. Suppose we now turn our atten- 
tion to fruits which grow on bushes, shrubs, and vines. 

The pineapple, one of the finest of this class of 
fruits, is a native of tropical South America, but is 



FRUITS 



115 



now grown in many tropical countries, especially 
the islands of the Caribbean Sea. Pineapples are 




Harvest time on a Hawaiian pineapple plantation. The pineapples 
from this island are considered the finest grown 

also grown abundantly in Hawaii and in Florida, 
and are cultivated under glass in Northern Europe. 
The pineapple was so named because its fruit 
looks very much like a pine cone. It is, however, 
the fruit of a low-growing plant, not of a tree. It 
grows in fields which, in some parts of Florida, con- 
tain thousands upon thousands of these delicious 
fruits. Perhaps the finest pineapples now grown 
are those on the plantations of Hawaii, where there 
are immense canning factories, which can the fruit 
and ship it to all parts of the world. The fresh pine- 
apples you see in your grocery store are likely from 
Florida, Cuba, or the Bahamas, as it is very difficult 



116 THE STORY OF FOODS 

to ship successfully the fresh fruit from the Hawaiian 
Islands. 

Grapes and where they grow. In the hillside 
vineyards of Italy, Germany, and France one may 
see, at almost any point, the peasants working among 
the vines — a charming picture of contentment. A 
parallel to this picture may be seen in the " grape 
belt" of western New York. New Jersey, Ohio, 
Michigan, and Missouri also are dotted with pros- 
perous vineyards. California has the largest com- 
mercial vineyards in the world, where grapes are 
raised for the table, for making wine, and for raisins. 
Here may be found great vines each bearing thou- 
sands of pounds of grapes in a single season. One 
vine in California is said to produce thirty thousand 
pounds of grapes a year. Can you imagine that? 
Thirty thousand pounds of grapes from one vine, 
growing from a single root! The writer has seen 
two thousand acres of vineyard in one ''block" 
flourishing on what appeared to be a desert of sand. 

Since thousands of American and European farms 
have their private vineyards and many states can 
boast of their commercial vineyards, it is impossible 
to form any idea of the quantity of grapes consumed 
each year. It means millions of pounds of fresh 
fruit, millions of gallons of grape juice and wine, 
and millions of pounds of raisins. Quite recently 
California sent a whole trainload — fifty cars — of 
raisins to Chicago wholesalers. 

Grapes are of many varieties and many sizes and 
many colors. The best known American grapes 
are the Concords, the Niagaras, the Delawares, and 
the Catawbas. The big Malaga, possibly the best 
known table grape in the world, is grown most 



FRUITS 



117 



extensively in Spain. Another fine Spanish' grape 
is the Almerias. 

Importance of the grape industry. It is almost 
impossible to say how much land is planted to grapes. 




A Tyrolese farmer taking a load of grapes to the press to 
be made into wine 

In California alone there are more than 250,000 
acres of land devoted to grape culture. In prac- 
tically every country of Southern Europe the cul- 
tivation of grapes is an important industry. In 
addition to the fruit secured from the thousands of 
acres of vineyards in California, New York, Michi- 
gan, Ohio, and many other states, we use more than 
1,000,000 pounds of Spanish grapes each year, and 
also import grapes from some of the other European 
countries. 

Wines and champagnes are made from grapes, 
as are also many other beverages. Wine making 



118 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



is one of the greatest industries of the world. 
France, Germany, Spain, and Italy look to it as 




Strawberries. New varieties and increased means of transportation 
make this fruit possible the year round 

one of their chief sources of income. Ordinarily we 
import about 6,000,000 gallons of wine a year. 

Berries. The small fruits which grow on vines 
and bushes are usually known as berries. The most 
common of these with which you are no doubt all 
familiar are the strawberry, the blueberry, the rasp- 
berry, the currant, the gooseberry, the huckleberry, 
the cranberry, and the blackberry. 

A cranberry bog. Perhaps the only one of the 
small fruits that you have not seen growing is the 
cranberry, and so suppose we see just what a cran- 
berry bog or farm is like. A cranberry farm is 
usually situated in a natural bog or marsh, although 
in some cases lowlands are artificially flooded and 
made into bogs for this purpose. Cranberries grow 



FRUITS 119 

on vines which require a great deal of moisture. They 
are often protected from the frost by being covered 
with water. This is done by flooding the ground 
from ditches which are usually built through the bogs. 
It requires three years after planting for a cran- 
berry bog to bear fruit, at which time countless little 
red berries appear on the vines. In nearly all the 
larger bogs the berries are gathered by the aid of 
stripping forks, but in the smaller ones they are 
stripped from the vines with the fingers so that the 
fruit may not be damaged. During the harvest 
season in a cranberry country nearly every able- 
bodied person, including women and children, go 
into the fields to gather the berries. The harvesting 
must be done rapidly as a frost will seriously injure 
the berries. After the cranberries are gathered 
they are put through a winnowing machine which 






Brown Bros. 

Pickers at work in a cranberry bog. The fruit was first cultivated on 
Cape Cod, and Massachusetts still leads in its production 

separates the dirt, leaves, and grass from the fruit. 
They are then barreled and shipped to market. 



120 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Cranberries were first raised in this country in 
Massachusetts, which still leads in their production. 
The cranberry industry has been developed in New 
Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, 
and Minnesota. Cranberries are raised in Europe, 
but their quality is not so good as those produced 
here, and our cranberries find a ready market in the 
Old World countries. 

Australia produces a berry similar to our cran- 
berry in both taste and appearance. This is the 
roselle, which has recently been introduced into this 
country, and of which we may expect to see more 
in the future. The roselle is served in a manner 
similar to the cranberry and, like it, makes excel- 
lent jelly. 

The melon family. The watermelon, one of our 
most familiar summer fruits, is a native of Africa. 
No doubt you have eaten the rich red flesh of the 
watermelon, and enjoyed it, too. While the water- 
melons generally seen in our city markets are red- 
fleshed, there are melons which have a bright yellow 
flesh, but are characterized by the same delightful 
flavor as the red-fleshed watermelon. The flesh of 
the melon is always eaten raw, but the rind makes 
an excellent preserve or pickle. The watermelon 
grows on a very large vine and is as common to 
the southerner as the potato is to the boy of the 
North. 

The citron melon is the same in color and shape 
as the watermelon but is much smaller, and cannot 
be eaten raw. It is used for pickling and preserving. 

The muskmelon family includes a variety of small 
melons, of which the cantaloupe, osage, and nutmeg 
are possibly the best known. Some of these melons 



FRUITS 



121 



are as small as a large orange, while others are as 
large as your head. Their flesh is of different colors, 




A watermelon patch in California. Sometimes, as in this patch, 
melons are grown between rows of orchard trees 

ranging from a pale green to a deep salmon pink. 
The muskmelon is grown in almost every state in 
the Union and is consumed only in its fresh state. 

California also grows a large green-fleshed melon 
for winter consumption in this country. Melons 
of this variety sometimes weigh as much as ten 
pounds each. 

Melons from abroad. During the winter months 
we import fancy melons from other countries. 
Among these is the golden or Egyptian melon from 
Egypt. It is shaped like an enormous cucumber, 
a single melon sometimes weighing twenty pounds. 
It has rind and flesh something like those of the 
Rockyford cantaloupe. 



122 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The melon we import from France is broader and 
shorter than the Egyptian melon and weighs about 
six pounds. There is grown in France a tiny, seed- 
less green melon not much larger than a walnut, 
which is known as the melon d'Orpagon. This is 
pickled and is a favorite in Europe. 

Another melon known as the pomegranate melon 
is about the size of an orange and has a green 
mottled rind and pink flesh. 

The English Queen melon is grown under glass in 
England. It is netted and has yellow skin and flesh. 
This melon will weigh from three to seven pounds. 




A fruit farm along the Niagara River rown ros ' 

Fruit as a food for man. Fruit has been one of 
man's main sources of food supply since the world 
began. Primitive man, of the temperate or the 
torrid zone, whether his home was in America, Asia, 
Africa, Europe, or one of the thousands of islands 
that dot the oceans, always depended largely upon 



FRUITS 123 

wild fruits for his food. Civilized man has come 
to realize the importance of this gift of nature and 
has given much time and thought to the cultivation 
and the higher development of the various fruits 
with which he is blessed. 

Evolution of modern fruits. The colonists of 
Virginia learned from the Indians the value of wild 
mulberries, crabapples, and huckleberries. The red 
men also taught the settlers the value of the wild 
foods of the fields and woods. As we look upon a 
plate of luscious pears, apples, melons, grapes, and 
peaches it is difficult to realize that these are the 
descendants of tiny, sour, hard-skinned, and almost 
unpalatable fruits. But this is unquestionably true. 
Nearly every fruit we eat has been developed by man 
until it requires a great stretch of the imagination 
to associate the present product with its parent of 
long ago. 

Mr. Luther Burbank, a man who has done many 
wonderful things in fruit culture, has given the 
world more than a hundred new varieties of fruits 
and berries. He has done this by selection and 
" crossing." If you could see the original thorny, 
forbidding-looking cactus from which Mr. Burbank 
has developed a delicious and healthful food which 
is good for both man and beast, you would think 
the achievement wonderful. 

Increased use of fruits. Primitive man of neces- 
sity made fruit a large part of his daily food; civilized 
man has it on his table every day because of its 
delicious flavor and its actual food value. There is 
a common recognition of the wholesomeness of 
fruits in the fact that they are generally given to 
invalids and convalescents. There can be little 



124 THE STORY OF FOODS 

doubt that the use of fresh fruits is increasing rapidly 
and that each year a higher percentage of man's 
diet consists of fruits. Besides the tremendous 
quantity of fruit that is eaten fresh every year, there 
are millions of pounds preserved and put up in 
glasses, jars, and cans. It is doubtful if there is 
any part of the world to which some of the canned 
fruits of our country are not sent. Then, too, each 
year many million bushels of fruit are dried. It is 
impossible, also, to estimate the number of carloads 
of fruits which are made into ciders and cordials 
every year. 



Chapter VII 

VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 

An everyday food. Some good and highly impor- 
tant things are so common we are inclined to forget 
their existence. To this class belong vegetables. 

Probably they appear on your table at least twice 
each day and sometimes as many as four or five 
different varieties are placed before you at a single 




Choice specimens of common foods. Vegetables and fruits selected 
for exhibition at a county fair 

meal. If you were to make a careful search through 
the drawers and shelves of your home kitchen, pan- 
try, and cellar, you would probably find a surprising 
variety of fresh, canned, and dried vegetables. 

125 



126 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Variety and supply of vegetables. Perhaps it 
might seem to you that vegetables are uninteresting 






r,rA\" "j«L i »* 



» i 










sffSliS^. " 









Brown Bros. 

Harvesting onions. The raising of vegetables on so extensive a 

scale as this has made possible the variety and 

abundance on the average table of to-day 

articles of food and that there has probably been 
little change in this branch of our food supply since 
the time cooks first began to conjure with stew- 
pans. But such a conclusion would be decidedly 
wrong. In comparatively recent years there have 
been wonderful changes, not only in our use of vege- 
tables but also in the variety and abundance of our 
supply. When your father was a boy, he did not 
have the large assortment of vegetables you now 
enjoy, and your grandfather as a boy probably had 
no more than six or eight kinds on his table from 
one season to another. 

It is almost impossible to name all the vegetables 
which one may buy in an up-to-date grocery or 
market to-day. Those vegetables which we all 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 



127 



know and many of us no doubt have seen growing, 
are: artichokes, asparagus, beans, beets, cabbages, 
carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, 
onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, 
radishes, rhubarb, squash, sweet potatoes, and 
tomatoes. 

Vegetable families. It is interesting to consider 
vegetables in families. For example, the Brussels 
sprouts, broccoli, borecole, and collard are all 
members of the cabbage family. In the same way 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

Gathering eggplant for market. This vegetable, which is a member 

of the same family as the tomato and potato, is a growing 

favorite with market gardeners 

nearly all other vegetables have a great many brothers 
and cousins that are called by different names. One 



128 THE STORY OF FOODS 

of these families may include a number of vegetables 
that differ widely, both in taste and in appearance. 
There are the eggplant, the potato, and the tomato 
all belonging to the same family, yet they do not 
look, taste, smell, or grow alike. Would you imagine 
the tomato and the potato to be related, or the 
turnip-like kohl-rabi to be of the cabbage family? 
Such, however, is the case. 

Interesting members of the bean family. The 
bean growing in your garden is of the same family 
as the curious tamarind of the East Indies. The 
tamarind grows on a big tree sometimes reaching 
forty feet in height, from which it hangs in long, 
thin-shelled pods that ripen in July and contain a 
sweet pulp and large, flat seeds. These seeds are 
the beans. But in the case of the tamarind the pod 
instead of the bean or seed is eaten. Or perhaps it 
is more accurate to say that the pulp surrounding 
the seed is the part that is used for food. This pulp 
is put into kegs and covered with boiling sirup, 
and is then shipped to various foreign markets. 
Later it is repacked in glasses or stone jars and 
sold, being considered a choice delicacy. 

The cowpea or "field pea" of the South, and the 
soy bean, a native of Asia, also belong to this family. 

New uses for the soy bean. One member of the 
bean family, the soy bean, which has been used in 
this country for many years but for fodder only, is 
now being recognized as one of the greatest of all 
vegetable foods. It is highly valued in the Orient 
both as a substitute for meat and as a relish. It 
also makes good soup stock and in Japan, China, 
India, and other parts of Asia is used in fermented 
form and is made into cheese, sauces, and drinks. 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 



129 



In some European countries its value as a food for 
invalids with impaired digestion is recognized and 




Brown Bros. 

Soy beans ready for shipment in Manchuria. The soy bean, which 

until recently has been used in this country for fodder only, 

is highly valued in the Orient as a substitute 

for meat and as a relish 

in Paris one may buy soy bean bread and soy bean 
meal. From the standpoint of food value the soy 
bean may be classed with meat, as it contains a large 
percentage of protein and a good percentage of fat. 

The soy bean grows from seed each year, just as 
our common beans do, and the plants are about the 
same size as our bush beans. The leaves of the plant 
are hairy, as are also the pods, which contain about 
four beans or seeds. The flowers are lilac colored. 

Less familiar vegetables. There are a large num- 
ber of vegetables unfamiliar to many of us, which 
may be bought in the markets of the larger cities of 
this country. Some of these are decidedly interesting. 
9 



130 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Bamboo as a vegetable. Surprising as it may 
seem, one of the most delicious vegetables used in 
great quantities in the Orient and now being intro- 
duced into this country is the young bamboo shoot. 
Is it hard to imagine relishing the plant from which 
your fishing poles are cut? Yet the Chinese con- 
sider the tiny shoots of the bamboo a delicacy and 
use them largely in their chop suey. In many re- 
spects the bamboo is not unlike asparagus. 

Vegetables for greens. The borage is a garden 
herb, the young leaves of which are used for salads 
and cooked as greens. Some of the finest greens are 
the leaves of the detested dandelion and mustard, 
of the beet, the turnip, the spinach, the kale, and 
Swiss chard. Sorrel, and many common weeds, such 
as the milkweed, the cowslip, the " pigweed," and the 
purslane, are used as greens. 

Vegetables used in salads. The cardoon is a 
plant of the thistle family useful for its stems and 
midribs. It is used in salads and soups and in the 
same ways as asparagus. The cardoon resembles 
the artichoke, although it is larger. It sometimes 
grows as high as ten feet and has leaves three feet 
in length. As we do not raise enough of this vege- 
table to meet the demand, we are compelled to 
import it from France. 

The rampion is a plant that looks something like 
the turnip, its leaves and white roots being used for 
salads. The shape of its root, however, is like that 
of the carrot. 

The shallot is a member of the onion family, with 
a flavor stronger than that of our common onion. It 
is used chiefly for sauces, salads, and soups. The 
shallot is pear-shaped, a little larger than a walnut, 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 



131 



and grows in clusters. The leek is also of the onion 
family, but, unlike the shallot, it is mild in flavor. 




Trimming and bunching asparagus for shipping. As a salad aspar- 
agus, a close competitor of the early pea for public favor, is now 
widely used and is constantly growing in popularity 

The endive, which with its relative, the dande- 
lion, belongs to the chicory family, is considered 
about the finest of all salad plants. It is now culti- 
vated in nearly all parts of the world. The endive 
was originally introduced into Europe from China 
and into America from Europe. This country 
raises a large supply of endive, but we still find 
it necessary to import thousands of dollars' worth 
of it yearly from Europe, especially from France. 
There are several firms in this country whose prin- 
cipal business is to import and distribute endive. 
These firms usually maintain men in Europe to 



132 THE STORY OF FOODS 

locate the choicest supplies. Belgium has been the 
greatest producer of the endive. 

The chufas of Southern Europe. Chufas, also 
known as earth-nuts, are native to Southern Europe. 
These tuberous roots, which are about the size of 
beans, are very nutritious and are eaten both fresh 
and dried. 

The gherkin and the martynia. The gherkin is 
of the cucumber family and is a native of Jamaica. 
It is also known as the Jamaica cucumber and is 
considered especially excellent when pickled or 
boiled. 

The martynia, or unicorn plant, is also pickled 
and eaten like the cucumber. It resembles a small 
violet-colored gourd and grows on a vine like the 
cucumber. 

Tomatoes of many kinds. The ground cherry, 
musk tomato, strawberry tomato, or winter cherry 
grows wild in the Mississippi Valley and in other 
parts of the world, but it is now cultivated quite 
extensively in this country. A member of the 
tomato family, it is known as the blue tomato by 
truck gardeners. It grows in a small husk which if 
left on will preserve the tomato through the winter. 
Although this tiny vegetable, which is only a little 
larger than a small cherry, may be eaten raw, it is 
at its best when preserved. 

This is only one of the fifty-odd varieties of toma- 
toes. There are red tomatoes, white tomatoes, blue 
tomatoes, and yellow tomatoes of every imaginable 
size and shape. There are tomatoes that, because 
of their shapes, are known as the pear tomato, the 
peach tomato, the cherry tomato, the plum tomato, 
the grape tomato, and the currant tomato. 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 



133 



Origin and use of tomatoes. The tomato has 
an interesting history. Botanists generally agree 




Delivering tomatoes at the canning Jaclory 

that it first grew in South America. It was probably 
cultivated in Mexico and Peru many years before 
the appearance of the Spaniards in 1519. For a 
long time this vegetable, now appreciated in every 
country in the world, was considered poisonous. 
To-day canned tomatoes are by far the most widely 
used of all canned vegetables. In addition to those 
canned in the home, the United States alone puts 
up more than 500,000,000 cans in a year, for com- 
mercial use, besides those that are preserved and 
made into ketchups, sauces, and salads. It would 
be impossible to determine the enormous quantity 
of fresh tomatoes consumed in this country in a 
year. The people of the United States are the 
largest per capita consumers of tomatoes in the 



134 THE STORY OF FOODS 

world. With the possible exception of Italy, no 
other nation appreciates this delicious vegetable as 
it deserves. 

An ancient member of the pea family. You have 
no doubt read the story of Esau and how he sold 
his birthright for a mess of pottage. That pottage 
was very likely made of lentils. Lentils are as old 
as history, yet they are not a common food in this 
country. They are of the pea family and are about 
the size of a pea, but flat and circular in shape. 
They resemble the pea in flavor and are used in 
much the same ways, in soups, stews, and as a 
vegetable. In Germany they compete closely in 
public favor with the pea. The Germans use great 
quantities both of lentil meal and flour and of pea 
meal and flour. The lentil of commerce at the 
present time is largely from Egypt. 

A member of the squash family. Vegetable 
marrow is a member of the squash family and is 
closely related to our summer squashes. It is 
usually white or pale yellow in color and resembles 
a large ripe cucumber, although usually much 
thicker. It commonly reaches a length of about 
ten inches, although the Italian variety, which has 
a very rough, green rind and pink flesh, sometimes 
grows to twice that size. This vegetable is gaining 
in popularity in this country, and gardens in which 
it was unknown a few years ago are now producing 
it abundantly to meet a steadily increasing demand. 

Two well-known root crops. The yam is not the 
sweet potato although it both looks and tastes like 
it. It is a native of tropical America, and, like the 
sweet potato, is the tuberous root of a climbing 
plant. Neither the yam nor the sweet potato is 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 135 

related to the ordinary or " Irish' ' potato, which is 
a member of the nightshade family. 

Salsify or vegetable oyster is so called because 
when cooked its flavor is very much like that of the 
oyster. Its roots resemble those of the rampion 
and the white carrots and are chiefly used for soups. 

Tapioca. One of the widely known foods of 
commerce is tapioca, which is also known as the 




Manioc roots. The manioc root, from which tapioca is made, is 
now being grown in Florida and other southern states 

cassava, ubi tanah, and manioc. It is made from 
the roots of the manioc plant. The native home of 
manioc is Brazil, but it is produced in a limited 
way in Porto Rico, Jamaica, and on Trinidad. But 
on account of the cheap labor in the Far East, its 
cultivation was begun there and has developed 
until now the greater part of the world's supply of 
tapioca comes from the Straits Settlements and 
Japan. The roots of the manioc plant range in 
size from a diameter of one and one half inches to 
eight inches, and from eighteen inches to four feet 
in length, each growing one or more tubers. These 



136 THE STORY OF FOODS 

tubers grow in clusters somewhat like potatoes. 
A single tuber sometimes weighs as much as twenty- 
five pounds. 

After the roots have been thoroughly washed 
they are conveyed to the grinder, into which a 
steady stream of clear water is flowing. As the 
roots are crushed they are washed into pipes which 
carry the pulp to sieves. These separate the pure 
tapioca from the fiber of the root. 

It is next placed in shallow vats where the starch 
from which the tapioca is made, is allowed to 
settle. The water is then drawn off and the starch 
is broken into small pieces and cooked in iron 
basins. 

This manioc root from which tapioca is made is an 
important native food in several tropical countries. 
In South America a meal obtained by drying and 
grating the root is baked in thin cakes. These 
cakes are nutritious as well as pleasing in taste. 

New varieties increase use of vegetables. From 
this study of vegetables you will have learned that 
each year new vegetables are being added to those 
long for sale in our markets. You will realize, too, 
that this branch of our food supply is constantly 
changing and enlarging. We are reaching out here 
and there and adopting the vegetables which have 
found favor in other countries. At the same time 
it is well to remember that we rarely ever discard 
a vegetable after it has once come into common use. 
We hold fast to the use of all those which have 
been found nourishing and agreeable. This means 
a constantly increasing variety — an important con- 
sideration, in view of the fact that vegetables are 
as a rule cheaper than meat and that there is a 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 



137 



growing class of persons who are inclined to eat less 
meat and more vegetables. 

Canning widens choice. Of still greater impor- 
tance is the fact that improved processes in canning 
have immensely increased the world's consumption 
of vegetables and multiplied the choice of vegetables 
open to any consumer. In a word, there is scarcely 




Prize tomatoes and sweet corn. These two vegetables rank high 
among those that are most successfully canned 

a vegetable commonly grown which you cannot buy 
in canned form anywhere in the world. While there 
are undoubted exceptions to be taken to this state- 
ment if applied in a literal form, the fact remains 
that it is substantially true. Fortunately the most 
nourishing vegetables — such as tomatoes, peas, 
sweet corn, and beans — are those most successfully 
canned and for this reason they are usually to be 
had at low cost. 



138 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Vegetable supply an unknown quantity. There 
is no practicable way of discovering how many 




A great commercial truck garden. Herefrom left to right may be 
seen long rows of beets, celery, onions, and carrots 

million tons of vegetables are eaten every year by the 
people of this or other countries, or how many billions 
of dollars this vast volume of food is worth. The 
" trucking" or vegetable-raising industry in America 
is an immense one. In the country districts the 
home vegetable garden is almost universal, and 
the farm or village home without its own garden 
patch is the exception. The vast total of this 
production is unknown and practically beyond 
computation. 

European seeds carefully grown. The importance 
of the vegetable crop in the work of feeding the world 
is shown in the care and skill employed in Europe 
in growing vegetable seeds. In one of Germany's 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 139 

foremost seed gardens, at Erfurt, is a flower bed 
bordered with a fringe of parsley which attracts 
the attention of every observing visitor. This 
parsley is curlier, more compact in growth, and more 
dwarfed than any parsley produced in America. 
When questioned, the superintendent of the garden 
confessed that, five years before, he had started out 
with a definite ideal of a perfect parsley in mind 
and ever since had been constantly working toward 
its realization. 

' 'It's beautiful — wonderful!" exclaimed his vis- 
itor. "You have certainly met with remarkable 
success. Would you permit me to take a photo- 
graph of this parsley for the benefit of the American 
public?'' 

"No!" was the firm answer. "I am sorry to 
refuse, but this product is not yet ready for the 
public. You will notice that occasionally through- 
out the row there are plants not as curly as the 
others; they are taller, rangier, and less compact. 
This defect must be so thoroughly overcome that we 
may be sure there is little or no danger of its reap- 
pearance before we are ready to give this parsley 
to the world, or even to have it made public through 
the papers. We cannot allow any new strain or 
variety to go out from this establishment, even in an 
experimental way, before we have done all that is 
possible for us to do for it, or before we are fully 
satisfied with the results of our work. Come back in 
about five years and you may get the picture of this." 

Another illustration of the untiring and painstak- 
ing persistence of the European seed growers may 
be seen in the way they grow radish seeds. As 
almost every home garden patch in America, no 



140 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



matter how small, contains radishes, this illustra- 
tion will interest a large number of us. 

In European seed gardens, the seeds are thinly 
drilled into a carefully prepared soil bed. As soon 
as the roots reach a size at which their final shape, 
color, and quality may be safely judged, they are 
pulled up by men familiar with the characteristics of 
each of the fifty or more varieties of radishes now 
under cultivation. These men have clearly in 



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Harvesting lettuce seed in California. In this state many acres 
are devoted to the growing of garden seeds 

mind the ideal at which the master gardener is 
aiming with each particular type in hand. Often 
they have had from ten to thirty years' experience 
in the production of radish seeds, working all the time 
in the same gardens and for the same employers. 

The poorly shaped, undersized roots are discarded 
and those measuring up fairly to the ideal in mind 
are replanted, this time with space enough for each 
root to permit its perfect development. From this 
time until the seeds are harvested each plant is 
given individual cultivation and protection. This 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 141 

method is followed by every first-class European 
seed garden. 

Growing sugar-beet seeds. The painstaking and 
scientific practice which characterizes seed produc- 
tion in the representative establishments of Europe 
is still more vividly illustrated by the manner in 
which sugar-beet seeds are grown in the great 
European breeding gardens. The seeds are drilled 
in big, carefully prepared fields. Here the treatment 
of the roots is practically the same as that given 
to radishes. At the time of transplanting, experts 
select about one per cent for seed production. 

From this one per cent the chief expert of the 
establishment selects about 10 per cent for the 
production of "stock seed." For example, it is not 
unusual for a field devoted to an important variety 
of sugar beet to contain 250,000 roots. At the first 
sorting 2,500 of the choicest specimens are selected. 
These are all critically examined by the chief expert, 
the head of the breeding work of the establishment, 
who picks from the 2,500 roots 250 that are destined 
to carry on the line of breeding. These aristocratic 
roots, it will be remembered, represent only one 
tenth of one per cent of the crop. After they have 
been approved by the eye of the head breeding 
expert their probation is by no means finished. 

Next they undergo what is called the chemical 
test. Each root is bored and from it is taken a core 
of the pulp about one half inch in diameter and 
some three inches long. The root is numbered 
and the pulp from it is put into a glass tube bearing 
the same number. In the laboratory these pulp 
samples are subjected to analysis. Only those roots 
whose samples show a satisfactory chemical content 



142 THE STORY OF FOODS 

are selected to perpetuate the choicest blood of 
the line. 

The remainder of the 2,500 roots, after the 250 
champions have been selected, are replanted to fur- 
nish the commercial seed crop. 

The following spring the roots that have qualified 
under all tests as champions are set out in a spe- 
cially prepared piece of ground where each root is 
allowed two square yards of earth for elbow room. 
The care of these stock roots is a responsibility 
entrusted only to most dependable experts. They 
are sprayed, fed, and pampered as if each were the 
particular pet of the owners. After the roots have 
sent up their slender seed stalks, the labor of pro- 
tecting them against cross fertilization by unde- 
sirable agents, and against insects, wind, and frost 
begins. For a time this was a difficult problem, 
but eventually a small circular tent was invented 
which completely surrounds plant and seed stalk. 
This is so constructed that only a moment's work 
is required to put it into place or to remove it. 

How England obtains seeds. When the traveler 
through Southern England sees, on every hand, 
miles of cabbage, turnip, pea, radish, beet, and 
flower fields, all for seed production, it is hard for 
him to believe that England buys immense quan- 
tities of choice seeds from other countries and resells 
them. Perhaps peas are the choicest product of 
these fields, for English peas are the greenest grown 
under the sun. 

Seeds grown on a large scale in France. In 
France, there are thousands of independent seed 
growers, many of them working on a small scale 
with a little patch of ground. Nothing shows so 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 



143 



clearly the perfection of seed production in Europe 
as does a glimpse of the great seed establishment at 




A field of fine seed potatoes 

Verrieres, about thirty miles from Paris. Here 
the visitor finds four hundred acres devoted exclu- 
sively to the growing of seeds under intensive 
cultivation. The owners also control more than 
ten thousand acres in seeds in the south of France. 
This area is largely devoted to beets, sugar beets, 
mangel-wurzels, celery, onions of the foreign types, 
radishes, and herbs. In fact, the south of France 
may be compared with the north of Holland as a 
seed-producing district especially favored by climate 
and soil. 

The world's international garden patch. North 
Holland, bounded on three sides by the Zuider Zee, 
is one vast " sunken garden" devoted to the raising 
of seeds. Here is the home of the famous Dutch 
bulbs, tulips, hyacinths, and all their brilliant 
kindred. But since the first half of the seventeenth 
century, the days of the great tulip craze, Holland 



144 THE STORY OF FOODS 

seed growers have turned their plodding genius to 
growing vegetable seeds, the demand for which is 
the solid one of food value instead of the fickle 
whim of flower fanciers. This does not mean that 
Holland has abandoned the growing of flower seeds 
and bulbs. Indeed not, for if you are in need of 
twenty tons of nasturtium seed, a single Holland 
grower can fill your order for that amount. But it 
does mean that the growers in the dike-protected 
fields are furnishing a big percentage of the world's 
best cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnip, spinach, and 
radish seeds, as well as European beans and peas. 
There is not a European vegetable that cannot be 
grown, for seed purposes, to great advantage in the 
land of the wooden shoes. 

Success due to people, not soil. Gazing upon the 
great seed gardens of Holland the stranger is likely 
to exclaim: " Nature has been good to Holland. 
What wonderful soil she must have to produce such 
astonishing crops !" She has, but here, again, the 
secret of her success is the character of her people, 
not of her soil. " Dutch thoroughness " and " Dutch 
patience" are not idle phrases. They are the solid 
foundations upon which the remarkable seed busi- 
ness of this world-loved little country rests. 

Knowledge of seeds an inheritance. It is possible 
to find many instances where one acre of a Holland 
seed garden returns a larger revenue than is often 
brought in by an American farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres that is considered well cultivated. 
Intensive cultivation is an inherited art with the 
Holland seed grower. It is hardly an exaggeration 
to say that the average Dutch seed gardener inherits 
truer instincts for the business of raising seed than 



VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 145 

the average American is able to gain by years of 
careful study. The same may be said for the 
Frenchman or the German who comes of a line of 
seed growers. In France, as in Holland, the lore of 
seed gardening has been handed down from father 
to son, from mother to daughter, through successive 
generations. This knowledge, in fact, is the richest 
legacy the seed gardener is able to leave his son or 
his daughter. 

Seed growing in the United States. What has 
been done by European horticulturists can be done 
in our own fertile country. For every acre of 
Dutch land ideally equipped for seed production, 
America has a hundred equally favored. 

The coming of the great European war naturally 
forced the horticulturists of the United States to 
grow many more vegetable seeds than ever before. 
This proved a big task, but it has been done with 
marked success and with true American energy 
and resourcefulness. In this work the seed spe- 
cialists from the Old World have been decidedly 
helpful. This does not mean, however, that we 
depend wholly upon alien experts for the growing of 
our seeds. At first the seed gardeners grew vege- 
tables for market because that seemed to be the 
most profitable thing to do, but the acute pressure 
for a far greater production of American-grown 
seeds virtually forced them to take a hand in seed 
culture. This illustrates how our country with its 
wonderful mixture of Old World peoples is generally 
able to meet any great emergency and produce the 
needful supply of articles previously imported. 



10 



Chapter VIII 

MILK AND BUTTER 

Milk, the perfect food. Every human being has 
at one time lived wholly on milk! This proves 
beyond question that milk contains all the food ele- 
ments required to sustain life and promote growth. 
But as the human being develops, the upbuilding of 
his body demands other foods. Here begins the 
insistent call for variety in our nourishment that has 
made man explore the whole world for things to eat. 

In America, when we speak of milk we usually 
refer to the milk of cows. But in other countries the 
people use the milk of goats, sheep, horses, reindeer, 
and other animals. In Europe the milk of sheep 
and goats is used extensively, not only in making 
cheese, but also as a part of the daily food. 

-The amount of milk consumed by man is almost 
beyond imagination. In the United States alone 
the trade in milk amounts to 7,500,000,000 gallons 
a year. This by no means represents all the milk 
we consume, because there are many thousands of 
gallons used by the owners of the cows, and 
the government in compiling these figures cannot 
take these unmeasured supplies into account. 

Food properties in cow's milk. Cow's milk con- 
sists of about 85 per cent water and 15 per cent 
solids. These solids are composed of fat, casein, 
sugar, and albumin. There are also traces of salts 
of various kinds. The fat of milk, from which 
butter is made, is called butter fat. The casein is 
used for cheese. 

146 



MILK AND BUTTER 



147 



Dairying and the cream separator. Dairy meth- 
ods have greatly changed within recent years. Men 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

A cream separator in a modern dairy. The invention of the separator 

has practically revolutionized the business of 

the dairy farmer 

who are now barely in middle life can easily recall 
the time when all milk intended for butter making 
was put into pans in a dairy house and the thick 
yellow cream skimmed from the top and churned by 
hand on the farm. Later came the creamery, which 
sometimes made cheese as well as butter. The 
dairy farmer hauled his milk each day to the cream- 
ery, and perhaps hauled back to the farm, in the same 
cans in which he had delivered his sweet milk, a load 



MILK AND BUTTER 149 

of buttermilk or whey for his calves and pigs. But 
this pastoral picture has been changed by the cream 
separator, one of the greatest of all modern inven- 
tions. It is especially valuable to the dairy farmer 
who lives too far from a town or city to sell his milk 
to those who use it in its natural state. 

The cream separators, which may be operated 
either by hand or by power, resemble big brass bowls 
that whirl about with great rapidity. The centrifugal 
action resulting from the whirling sends the lighter 
cream to the top of the bowl while the heavier ele- 
ments remain at the bottom. An outlet at the top 
permits the cream to escape, while a spout, nearer 
the bottom, drains off the skim milk. 

The advantage of the separator to the farmer 
living a long distance from the creamery cannot be 
realized by one who has not seen a wagon heavily 
loaded with milk cans struggling through the mud 
and mire of a dirt road in the country after a spring 
thaw or a series of heavy rains. With the separator 
in his dairy house, the farmer remote from town or 
the creamery, instead of hauling hundreds of pounds 
of raw milk to market, takes one small can of cream. 
Then, instead of having to haul buttermilk or whey 
back to the farm for his calves and pigs he has a 
supply of sweet skim milk left at home for these 
animals. They relish this milk and thrive far better 
on it than on sour milk, buttermilk, or whey. 

But not every dairy has a separator. There are 
still many dairies in the country where the milk is 
cooled in a picturesque springhouse just as it was 
during the last century. But dairies of this kind 
usually sell their milk for consumption in the natural 
state and not as cream, butter, or cheese. 



150 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Handling milk for family use. Modern improve- 
ments in the methods of handling milk for family 








On the great modern dairy farm of to-day the electrical milking 
machine is taking the place of hand labor 

use in cities and villages have been little short of 
marvelous. To-day there are hundreds of dairy 
farms which ship milk to the big plants every 
evening. Many of them milk from seventy-five to 
one hundred cows each and some of the larger farms 
several hundred cows. On these large farms to-day 
the milking machine, a modern labor-saving device, 
is being introduced. This ingenious machine is 
operated by electricity and is a great boon to the 
farmer with a large herd in a region where farm 
laborers are scarce and wages high. 

If one of these farms is close to a large city it will 
send its whole milk — that from which the cream 
has not been taken — to the city. 



MILK AND BUTTER 151 

A model dairy farm. Not long ago the writer 
visited a large dairy farm near Chicago, and watched 
the handling of milk for the people who live in that 
city. Some of it goes to children who have never 
even seen a cow! 

Everything connected with this farm was almost 
ideal. Its immense barns were as well ventilated 
and lighted as a modern school building. The 
cement floors of the stable could be flushed and 
washed clean with comparatively little labor. In 
winter a stream of cold, pure spring water flows 
through the long cement drinking and feeding 
troughs. There is hot water for washing purposes 
and the milkers are required to bathe frequently 
and to wash their hands and the udders of the cows 




Brown Bros. 

Interior of an up-to-date stable on a great dairy farm. Fine 

ventilation, cement floors, and running water make 

this stable a model of cleanliness 

before each milking. The milk house, which stands 
at some distance from the barn, is equipped with 



152 THE STORY OF FOODS 

heating and refrigerating devices so that the milk 
may be cooled quickly or heated to any required 




Courtesy of Oak Glenn Farm 

Holstein cows on a model dairy farm 

degree. The bottling room also has live steam for 
the scalding of bottles and all vessels in which milk 
is placed. This model dairy is also fully equipped 
with milking machines which may be used whenever 
convenience requires. 

Value of shady pastures. This farm abounds in 
grassy pastures threaded by a clear, cool stream 
with a rocky bed and banks overhung with trees. 
In the heat of summer the cows stand in this shaded 
stream, making a striking picture of contentment, 
while the rich grasses gathered from the pasture are 
being distilled into milk for the children of the city. 
The owner declares that this well-shaded stream is 
one of the farm's most valuable features; for quiet, 
comfort, and contentment on the part of the cows 
are necessary for the production of high-grade, per- 
fectly wholesome milk. 

Bottling the milk. Since this model dairy farm 
lies close to Chicago, the milk is sent to that city 
and marketed as whole milk. There, as near all 



MILK AND BUTTER 



153 



large cities, are large milk-bottling plants to which 
many farmers send their milk. The milk is carried 
in wagons or by motor to the railroad station, where 
it is put on special milk trains and hauled to the 
bottling works. Here it is strained, put through 
the clarifier, pasteurized, and then bottled. There 
are also large separators which take the cream from 
the milk. The cream is sold directly to customers, 
while the skim milk from the separators is either 
used in bakeries, sent back to the farms to be fed 
to the stock and poultry, or sold to the producers 
of milk-fed chickens. 

Pasteurized milk or cream is that which has been 




A huge sterilizing machine in a milk-bottling plant. All bottles 

are sterilized by live steam before they are sent to the 

bottling room to be filled with milk 

heated to a point just below boiling, at which all 
bacteria are killed. Immediately following this 



154 THE STORY OF FOODS 

heating, the milk is cooled to 50° F., or possibly 
a little lower. 

Testing milk. All milk must be tested before it 
is accepted in these bottling plants, for when it is 
sent to the city in bottles, to be delivered to the 
homes of consumers, the milk must have their guar- 
anty of purity back of it. There are city, state, and 
federal milk inspectors who work in the different 
cities and whose business it is to see that no impure 
or unwholesome milk is sold. They must protect 
the people who purchase their milk and cream 
indirectly from the bottling plants or directly from 
the farmers. 

Perhaps you would like to know just how a city 
using about 260,000 gallons of milk a day protects 
its citizens from impure milk. This city maintains 
special investigators whose business it is to "plate" 
samples of milk for bacteria. This means that, 
without notice, they take samples of milk being 
delivered in their city, carry them to their laboratory 
and there " culture" them, or give the bacteria a 
chance to develop. If harmful bacteria are found, 
the milk is rejected and immediate action taken to 
prevent further deliveries. The plant or farmer 
furnishing the milk is also subject to prosecution. 

Work of the inspector. But the city inspection 
does not end here. Inspectors, whose duty it is to 
see that the farms themselves are kept in proper 
condition, are sent to the various dairy farms which 
furnish the milk for the city. They also inspect 
the bottling plants and the methods in use there. 
The cows furnishing the milk must be inspected at 
stated intervals by a registered veterinarian to see 
that they are in good health. 



MILK AND BUTTER 



155 



In one city which takes these precautions, there 
are about 3,200 wagons delivering milk from some 




Brown Bros. 

After leaving the cooler the milk runs into a large tank from which 
it is automatically drawn into sterilized bottles 

1,300 distributing stations. These stations are 
scattered broadcast throughout the whole city. 

Precautions to protect the public. Now let us 
take a look into one of these great milk-bottling 
plants, which are located throughout the dairy 
district of our country and maintain many branches 
in near-by cities. Let us see how they protect the 
public and meet the requirements of city and state 
authorities. 

These bottling plants buy milk only from the dairy 
farmers with whom they make contracts and who 
will live up to their regulations. They employ high- 
grade, practical dairymen to go from one contract 



156 THE STORY OF FOODS 

farm to another and offer suggestions calculated to 
encourage the production of more and better milk. 
The bottling companies also have expert veteri- 
narians whose business it is to make frequent visits 
to the various dairy farms under their contract and 
see that the cows are in prime condition and receiv- 
ing proper treatment. 

The dairy experts divide their time equally be- 
tween the plants and the farms. In the morning 
they are at the plants, sampling and testing the 
milk, as it is delivered, to make sure that it is 
up to the standard of quality and purity. In the 
afternoon they visit the various farms and seek 
to give the producer every possible assistance in his 
work. 

A trip through a bottling plant. In the bottling 
plant visited the manner in which the milk was 
handled was especially interesting. When the farmers 
brought it in it was emptied into the receiving 
tank and weighed. The weight was credited to the 
farmer and the milk passed on to the clarifier, which 
removed any foreign matter that may have gotten 
into it. Then if the milk was found satisfactory, it 
was passed on to the cleaner. From this machine 
it went to the uniforming tank where all the milk was 
mixed together. Then it passed to the pre-heater. 
There, by the aid of hot water coils, the milk was 
raised to 90° F. Next it went to the pasteurizer 
where it was raised from 90° to 145°, when it was 
forwarded into what is called the compartment 
holder. This is to keep the heat at a uniform 
temperature until the milk is thoroughly sterilized, 
and then gradually cool it. From the compart- 
ment holder the milk was fed into the cooler where 



MILK AND BUTTER 



157 



it was reduced to about 45° F. Finally it was auto- 
matically put into sterilized bottles and sealed. 




Brown Bros. 

Sealing the bottled milk with caps. After it is cooled the milk will 
start on its journey to the city 

It was then cooled again and placed in refrigerator 
cars for shipment to the city. 

When the milk reaches the city, the cars are dis- 
tributed to the various branches about town where 
the delivery men assemble for their supplies. Within 
twenty-four hours after leaving the farm, milk is 
delivered to the consumer. 

Certified milk. There is one grade of milk that 
sells for about twice as much as ordinary com- 
mercial milk. This product is known as certified 
milk. 

Certified milk is produced on a farm approved by 
the milk commission of the medical society of the 
city in which it is to be distributed. It is put into 
special bottles and sealed with special caps, which 
are furnished to the farmer who has been given a 
permit to sell certified milk. 



158 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The certified milk permit is awarded a farmer 
only after a committee of the milk commission has 
visited and inspected his buildings, his cattle, his 
help, and his utensils. If the quality of the milk 
produced, the sanitation of the buildings, the 
methods used, and the health of the stock and 
employees are all satisfactory, the place is certified. 
The certified farm must be inspected at frequent 

intervals and the milk 
constantly tested. The 
bacteria test for clean- 
liness is generally re- 
quired. 

The care necessary 
to keep cows, premises, 
and employees in a con- 
dition satisfactory to 
A pure-bred Hohtein cow the inspectors involves 

a large amount of work and heavy expense. As 
a result of the exacting care given to the production 
of certified milk, it does not have to be pasteurized. 
Cows for milk and butter. The Holstein is the 
favorite cow of the farmer selling milk for use in the 
natural state, since cows of this breed usually give 
the largest quantity of milk. A good Holstein cow 
will give about 8,000 pounds of milk a year, or 28 
quarts a day during the best milking season. But 
Holstein milk is likely to yield only about 3.5 
per cent of butter fat, while 4.5 per cent is a fair 
percentage for Guernsey and Jersey milk. 

Butter is the most important product obtained 
from milk. From 83 to 85 per cent of butter con- 
sists of butter fat, the remaining 17 to 15 per cent 
being moisture and salt, with a trace of proteins, 




MILK AND BUTTER 



159 



milk sugar, mineral substances, and sometimes color- 
ing. Now let us see by what methods it is made. 
Butter making, ancient and modern. The use of 
butter dates back thousands of years to the time 
of the ancient Jews. The old-fashioned way of 
making it was to allow the milk to stand until the 
cream which came to the top was properly ripened. 
Then it was skimmed and churned. But to-day 
that method is not generally used. Suppose we 
follow a load of milk that a dairy farmer brings to 
the creamery. First the milk is sampled and, if 
found below requirements, is rejected. If accepted 
it is poured into a large weighing tank and weighed. 
The farmer is given a duplicate of the weight slip 
and at the end of the month or perhaps the 



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Removing the butter from the huge churns 

fortnight a settlement will be made. Usually the 
price of milk is agreed upon for the whole month. 



160 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



After this the milk is emptied from the weighing 
tank through a long pipe into a vat in the creamery. 




Dutch girls at work in a Holland butter factory rown ros ' 

From this vat it is put through the separators and 
the cream taken off and run into a pasteurizing 
machine and then into another vat. The skim milk 
is run into large cans and delivered back to the 
farmer. 

The cream is ripened in what is known as a starting 
tank, where hot water coils aid the process. In 
order to bring about the necessary fermentation, a 
" starter" of curdled milk is added. Butter coloring 
is also added and when the cream is properly ripened 
it is turned into huge churns and churned at a 
temperature of about 60° F. 

The butter forms in little golden globules and the 
remaining liquid is called buttermilk. This is drawn 



MILK AND BUTTER 



161 



off and put into tanks or pails, and if the creamery is 
located in a town, there is usually a ready sale for 
the buttermilk as a summer beverage. The butter 
is then washed with clean water and salt worked into 
it. The salt acts both as a means of making it more 
palatable and as a preservative, keeping the butter 
fresh for a considerable length of time. Butter 
made in this way is known as creamery butter. 
Packing butter for market. The butter is put in- 
to tubs or boxes in which it is to go to the retailer. 
If it is to be sold in pound packages it is put into 
a large box having slits in the sides. Through 
these slits are slipped wires which cut the butter 













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Storing butter that has been packed for market in a modern 
cold storage warehouse 

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in specially prepared paper and shipped to market. 

II 



162 THE STORY OF FOODS 

The world's greatest butter makers. The United 
States makes about 650,000,000 pounds of creamery 



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Starting butter on its way to the consumer. A subway freight train is 

transferring it from a storage warehouse to a refrigerator 

car of an outgoing train 

butter a year. Of dairy butter, which is made on 
the farm and usually sold in bulk, the United States 
produces about 995,000,000 pounds a year. In one 
year the United States exported more than 6,000,000 
pounds of butter to other countries. The greatest 
butter-making countries in the world are the United 
States, Canada, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and 
Germany. The United States rivals Denmark in 
the quality of its butter. 

Renovated butter. Perhaps you have heard of 
"renovated butter" or "processed butter." This is 
made by working over low-grade or slightly spoiled 
butter. 



MILK AND BUTTER 163 

The processed or renovated butter is made from 
"packing stock," which is old butter gathered from 
various sources. The "packing stock" is melted 
down and the oil drawn or ladled out, the salt and 
foreign matter settling to the bottom of the tanks. 
This leaves pure butter oil. This oil is then aerated 
and sweetened by having fresh air blown through 
it. After this process it is again placed in a churn 
and some good cream or whole milk added to give 
it the desired flavor. Salt is then worked in and the 
finished product put into packages. 

The manufacture of renovated butter is controlled 
by the internal revenue department of the United 
States government. The factories producing this 
product are given license numbers which must appear 
on their packages, which are sold under a revenue 
stamp. 



Chapter IX 

CHEESE 

One of our oldest industries. Cheese making is 
one of the world's oldest industries, and cheese has 
been used as food from a very early date. It is 
frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. There 
is found Job's complaining inquiry: " Hast thou not 
poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?" 
and David carried "ten cheeses unto the captain of 
their thousand." 

Climate a factor in cheese making. Few manu- 
factured foods are so dependent upon natural con- 
ditions — such as location, soil, water, and climate — 
as cheese, for cheese making is an agricultural 
as well as a manufacturing industry. This fact, 
together with its wonderful history, makes cheese 
one of the most fascinating subjects in the study 
of food geography. 

But the two elements which have most to do with 
determining the qualities of cheese are locality and 
climate. A little later, when you read about the 
cheese makers of the Old World, you will learn why 
cheese making with them is not only a community 
craft but an inherited occupation. But now let 
us see how sensitive cheese is to the influences of 
climate. 

The climate of one locality may differ only a little 
from that of another region near by, and yet that 
slight variation in temperature and rainfall — for 
these are the chief characteristics of climate — may 
be enough to fix borders within which a certain kind 

164 



CHEESE 



165 



of cheese can be made and beyond which it cannot 
be made with assured success. In cheese produc- 
tion climate draws geographical boundaries both 
narrow and exact. All cheese is made from milk, 
and nearly all domesticated animals which give milk 
in considerable quantities have a share in cheese 




Courtesy of Wisconsin Dairy and Food Commission 



In a Wisconsin cheese factory. Placing hoops, filled with curd, 
in the cheese press 

production. Of these animals cows, goats, sheep, 
camels, and horses are the principal ones. 

Because cheese is made from milk, good pasturage 
is necessary. This can be had only where there is an 
abundant rainfall, or where irrigation supplies the 
necessary moisture. Most of our domestic cheese 
is made in Wisconsin and New York. In those 
states all the cheese factories are in localities which 
during the cheese-making season — May to Septem- 
ber, inclusive — have a mean temperature of about 



166 THE STORY OF FOODS 

65° F. Experiments conducted by the United States 
government have established the fact that nearly 
all these factories are in districts which have a grow- 
ing season of about one hundred and fifty days. 

Two great cheese-producing states. Since Wis- 
consin now produces more cheese than any other 
state, let us study the work of the cheese makers of 
that state and also the cheese they produce. 

There are about 2,000,000 dairy cows in Wis- 
consin and more than 2,000 cheese factories. 
About one fourth of the factories are engaged 
in making "foreign style" cheese. In one year 
the great cheese-making district of southwestern 
Wisconsin produced about 30,000,000 pounds of 
"foreign style" cheese. 

New York produces almost as much cheese as 
Wisconsin and both states make many kinds of 
"foreign style" cheeses. Brick and domestic Swiss 
cheese are the principal products of the Wisconsin 
cheese makers, while New York stands unrivaled in 
the quantity of high-grade Limburger produced. 

Coming of the Swiss cheese makers. In his 
admirable work on the Wisconsin cheese industry 
Professor O. E. Baker, of the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, says: 

"The coming of the Swiss to southwestern Wis- 
consin commenced in 1845, when 140 immigrants 
arrived from Glarus, the Canton authorities having 
appropriated 1500 Gulden to send them over to 
relieve the labor surplus at home, caused by de- 
pressed financial conditions at that time. The 
immigrants settled in the northwestern portion of 
Green County, and named the town New Glarus in 
memory of their old home. This portion of Green 



CHEESE 



167 



County is rough to rolling in topography, and 
although these early pioneers did not find anything 




Courtesy of Wisconsin Dairy and Food Commission 

Removing the cheese from the hoop after it has been pressed to 
the proper hardness 

here to compare with their beloved Alps, they did 
find an abundance of hills, with cool springs and 
ever-flowing streams between, and a soil similar 
to that of their native land. 

" Other Swiss followed in 1846 and 1847, among 
them also a few cheese makers, and although they 
were poor, they were industrious and frugal, and 
were soon able to purchase a cow. After a while 
they would buy another cow, and a few years later 
a third. Thus the industry grew slowly, under the 
domestic system of production, for about thirty 
years, keeping time to the tinkling of the cowbells, 
which every sentimental Swiss even to-day insists 
upon attaching to his favorite cow/' 

It was not until about 1870 that the supply of 



168 THE STORY OF FOODS 

cheese made by these thrifty Swiss folk exceeded the 
local demand. But before that time a little cheese 
had been sold to the German people of Milwaukee 
and Madison, who were already familiar with the 
excellent qualities of Swiss cheese, or " Schweitzer 
Kase," as they called it. 

To-day Wisconsin is producing annually many 
million pounds of cheese which is being sent to all 
parts of our country. Yet there are Swiss families 
in the state still making cheese after the manner of 
their forefathers in the Old World. In fact, there 
is to-day one little cheese factory where three genera- 
tions of the same family are working, side by side, 
producing cheese closely resembling that which their 
forbears made on the grassy slopes of the beautiful 
Alps. 

From father to son. No one knows how long the 
people of Europe have been making cheese, for this 
food dates back beyond written history. It is not 
unlikely that cheese making began in an effort to 
utilize the surplus milk to insure a food supply in 
times of scarcity. Cheese making is an art that is 
handed down from generation to generation — and 
the knowledge of how to make the particular cheeses 
for which they are famous is perhaps the richest 
possession of the people in certain districts. 

As soon as he is capable of learning anything, a 
boy in the cheese-making section of Switzerland is 
taught that he is to follow the trade of his father. 
Of course there may be exceptions to this rule, but in 
the cheese-making districts they are rare. The Swiss 
children raised in the cheese-making communities 
understand that they are to make the same kind 
of cheese as their fathers, mothers, grandparents, 



CHEESE 



169 




and great grandparents made — and make it in the 
same place. The same thing is true of France 
and Norway. This is one of 
the best examples of inherited 
callings and of home crafts- 
manship, and vocational edu- 
cation at the hands of parents 
to be found anywhere in the 
world. 

"Foreign style " and im- 
ported cheeses. In practically 
every important cheese-mak- 
ing district in the United States 
one will find little factories 
where experts from the Old 
World, either German, Swiss, 
French, Italian, Dutch, or 
Swedish, using the same care 
make a product much like 
that made by their forefathers. 

However, we must not forget that certain European 
cheeses cannot be successfully imitated in this coun- 
try and that the " foreign style" cheeses made here 
are not identical with those of the Old World upon 
which they are modeled. But each year the foreign 
style cheeses made by experts who have inherited the 
skill of European makers are becoming more popular. 
This is true even with consumers who are familiar 
with the imported article. 

While our domestic, or American-made, cheese is 
both nourishing and " tasty," there are many 
Americans who are satisfied with nothing less than 
genuine imported cheeses. It is for these people 
that the European countries each year send many 



Courtesy ot Wisconsin Dairy 
and Food Commission 

Determining ripeness of 

the milk before add- 

ing the rennet 



170 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



thousand pounds of cheese across the sea. From 
Italy alone we receive a dozen different kinds. 




Display of imported and domestic cheese carried by a great grocery 

house. It represents products from nine countries 

and thirteen states 

England and France also contribute a large variety, 
as do Holland, Belgium, and Denmark. 

The following descriptions cover the various 
cheeses carried by high-grade grocery stores and 
delicatessen shops in a large city. There are many 
more kinds of cheeses — one authority describes 
two hundred and forty-six different kinds — but 
these will be enough to enable you to learn what 
countries help supply the cheese for our tables. 

Norwegian cheese. From the high mountain 
sides of Norway we receive ged ost (goat's milk) 
cheese. This is a combination of certain grains, 
sweetening, and goat's milk curd. It has a sweetish 
taste, and is the color of maple sugar. From Nor- 
way we also get gammal ost (old cheese) which is 



CHEESE 171 

made of cow's milk and packed in straw until prop- 
erly cured. 

Edam cheese. Edam is the great cheese of the 
Netherlands. It comes in balls, almost as large as 
your head. It is often done up in tinfoil and is 
usually painted red with a vegetable coloring, and 
then coated with paraffin. Edam varies a great deal 
in quality because of the differing percentages of 
butter fat taken out of the milk before the cheese 
is made. When no butter fat has been removed 
from the milk, the cheese contains from 45 to 50 
per cent of butter fat. Another grade of Edam 
cheese contains from 20 to 30 per cent, or even less, 
of butter fat. 

Most of this cheese is made by the peasant women 
on the farms in the Netherlands and brought to 
market, where it is sold to the consumer as many 
farmers of this country sell eggs and butter. 

Roquefort, Camembert, and Brie. The best- 
known French cheese is Roquefort, which comes from 
the town of Roquefort, perched high on a mountain 
in the Department of Aveyron. French historians 
tell us that, as far back as " Bible times,' ' cheese was 
carried from Roquefort to the Mediterranean Sea. 
This was due to the fact that Roquefort is ideally 
located for the making of cheese. The peasant 
people used to carry cheese to the top of the 
mountain and hide it in the limestone caves, which 
were found to be especially fitted by nature for the 
storing of cheese. The cool temperature of the 
caves made them excellent storehouses. 

Finally, a knowledge and appreciation of this 
famous cheese began to extend beyond the Roque- 
fort district. Then men of keen business sense 



172 THE STORY OF FOODS 

started to buy and sell it to meet a growing demand. 
And that was the beginning of the famous Roquefort 



Curing Roquefort cheese in a limestone cave 

cheese industry. As the business grew the caves 
were enlarged. Now each cave cut out of the 
limestone has an air shaft coming out of the top of 
the mountain and is well lighted. 

The chief occupation of the peasants around 
Roquefort is making cheese, which they bring to the 
caves to sell. Every family within miles of Roque- 
fort brings cheese to the various caves. This cheese 
is made of sheep's milk. Great flocks of sheep, 
raised especially for their milk, graze on the moun- 
tain side about this quaint old town. So great is 
the demand for Roquefort cheese that there are 
more than 600,000 milch sheep on these hills and 
mountains. 

The shepherds wear dark, gownlike coats which 



CHEESE 



173 



reach almost to the ground and give them a most 
picturesque appearance. Most of the clothing of 
the shepherds and their families is made from wool 
taken from the backs of their own sheep and carded, 
spun, and woven in their little stone cottages. 
Besides the shepherd, each flock is also tended by 
two dogs. These dogs move the sheep about over 
the grazing grounds or "commons" with a quietness 
and care that astonish visitors. Usually the sheep 
are brought into the fold each night for milking and 
shelter. The southern slopes of the mountains and 
foothills, fresh and green in winter, become burned 
and browned in summer. Therefore winter grazing 
is on the southern slopes, while in summer the flocks 
feed from the northern exposures. 

Among pastoral people in Europe there are none, 
perhaps, more interesting and picturesque than the 
shepherds of Roquefort. The habits and dress of 




Receiving cheeses in the storage room of a limestone cave 

these people have altered but little since the com- 
mercial world, centuries ago, first heard of Roquefort 



174 THE STORY OF FOODS 

cheese. Grandfather, father, and son are shepherds; 
grandmother, mother, and daughter are milkmaids 
— and all are cheese makers. In many instances, 
however, the shepherds milk their flocks. 

Every morning the milk is skimmed, strained, and 
warmed almost to the boiling point. It is then put 
into pans and stirred with willow wythes. A little 
rennet is used to curdle the milk. After the curds 
have formed they are mixed with a specially pre- 
pared barley bread, which starts the green mold 
always to be seen in Roquefort cheese and helps to 
give it its distinctive flavor. 

The cheese is allowed to remain in the press for 
several days and is then taken to the caves and sold. 
There it is cured with salt. Girls employed in the 
caves rub the outside of the cheese with salt until 
__^___^ all the pores are closed. 




This forms the rind. 
The cheeses are cured 
in the caves for about 
four months, when they 
are shipped to nearly 
all parts of the world. 
One legend as to the 
; '\ f y origin of the Roque- 

♦ 7 *y f fort cheese tells us that 

Jl...,,^;,, , * ' ' one rainy day a shep- 

herd sought shelter in 
one of the limestone 



A fine sample of Roquefort cheese 



caves near the present city of Roquefort and that, 
in hurrying away after his flock, he left his lunch 
of sheep's milk cheese and bread behind. 

Some weeks later he was again driven to seek 
shelter in the cave and found his cheese thickly 



CHEESE 175 

molded. He tasted it and liked it so much that 
he formed the habit of leaving cheese in the cave 




Turning the cheeses that are being cured in a storage cave 

to mold. Later he gave some to the village cure, 
who was enthusiastic over its flavor and began 
experiments in producing a quantity of it for the 
other priests, who were finally responsible for mak- 
ing it a popular favorite. 

While the peasant life about Roquefort has not 
changed in the least, the caves represent the most 
advanced and modern methods of handling cheese. 
They are electric lighted throughout and equipped 
with every mechanical convenience. Enormous 
motor trucks haul the cheese from the caves to the 
various shipping points. The whole industry is run 
on an efficient, business-like basis. 

Camembert is another famous French cheese. It 
is made from cow's milk and is a soft, rich, creamy 
cheese hailing from Normandy. A small cheese, it is 
put up in round wooden boxes, making a package 
that weighs about ten ounces. Like Roquefort, it 
has a world-wide popularity. It was first made 









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CHEESE 177 

about 1790. Its flavor is as distinctive as it is 
pleasing, which makes it a favorite wherever rich 
table delicacies are in demand. This style of 
cheese is successfully made in the United States. 

Imported Brie cheese, mention of which is made as 
early as 1407, comes largely from the region of Brie 
in the district of the Marne in France. This cheese 
is made from cow's milk in the homes of the farmers 
and is put up in the shape of a pie. It is usually 
cured in cool basements. The packer and shipper 
of this cheese sends his wagon around to the homes 
of the makers, picks up the cheeses, and brings them 
to a central place where they are cured and packed. 
In taste Brie cheese is quite similar to Camembert 
— which is paying it a high compliment. A good 
many imported Brie cheeses come from Fontaine- 
bleau, a place intimately connected with the life 
of Napoleon. 

Italian cheeses. Perhaps the most familiar Ital- 
ian cheese is the Parmesan, which is used mostly by 
chefs for flavoring spaghetti, macaroni, and other 
dishes. It is thus used because it is so hard that it 
can be grated and produce an even mixture, and also 
because it has strength enough to give the required 
flavor. Parmesan cheese is made from skimmed 
cow's milk and, under proper conditions, may be 
kept for several years. 

Gorgonzola is the aristocrat of Italian cheeses. It 
is very widely used and is somewhat similar to 
Roquefort, but not so expensive. Like Roquefort 
it is made of sheep's milk, but is milder in flavor. 
Gorgonzola is put up in twenty-pound baskets, 
one cheese to a basket. The outside of this cheese 
is covered with a preparation made chiefly from 

12 



178 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



gypsum and tallow. This coating makes it possible 
to keep the cheese for a year or more. Much of 
this cheese comes from the province of Lombardy. 
Genuine Swiss cheeses. Most of us are familiar 
with the rich, delicate flavor of Swiss cheese. There 
are a good many kinds of "Swiss style " cheeses made 
in America. While this cheese is rich and of pleasant 




In a corner of a cheese refrigerator in an American wholesale grocery. 
Cheese packed and cared for in this way remains fresh for a long time 

flavor, it lacks a certain quality, not easily described, 
although detected at once by the sensitive taste of 
the cheese lover. It is the product of an inherited 
art, together with climatic conditions which do not 
exist in this country. It is also possible to tell by 
sight the difference between the genuine imported 
Swiss and the "Swiss style" American-made cheese. 
The real Alpine article has very large "eyes" and 
is fine in texture. 



CHEESE 179 

The Swiss cheese known as Emmenthaler is made 
of cow's milk, and is put up in wheels of about two 
hundred pounds each. Its manufacture is said to 
require more labor than that of any other cheese. 
This is because it must be washed and rubbed with 
salt each alternate day for the first week or so and 
then a little less frequently until it is fully cured. 

You will surely wish to know the history of Em- 
menthaler cheese, which dates back many centuries. 
Long ago the thai or valley of the Emme in the 
Alps became a great cheese center; hence the 
name Emmenthaler. Ever since the conquests of 
Caesar, and probably before, the peasants of Switzer- 
land have pastured their cows on the grassy slopes 
of the Alps. 

Emmenthaler cheese is made in small, immacu- 
lately clean factories, or cheese dairies, scattered 
throughout the numerous valleys which lie between 
the beautiful foothills and mountains of Switzerland. 
A factory is usually run by one family. This family 
may consist of a mother and father, some children, 
and perhaps the grandparents, all engaged in making 
cheese. Often a family factory will include only 
a man and his wife. There is a basement cheese 
depot in the city of Bern where, for fifteen gen- 
erations, members of one family have cured and 
handled Emmenthaler cheese. 

Emmenthaler like Brie cheese is cured in base- 
ments or cool cellars. It is repeatedly treated with 
the amount of moisture and salt necessary to give it 
the desired flavor. This treatment consists of first 
washing the cheese with pure, cool water which 
bubbles from a mountain spring, and then rubbing 
the "loaf" or "wheel" with salt. The salt soon 



180 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



dissolves and great beads of water are left standing 
all over the loaves. For this reason it is often called 




Courtesy of K. A. White 

A Swiss herd of cows and goats on the way to fresh pasture 

"weeping Emmenthaler." The salt strikes into the 
cheese, giving it a peculiar flavor. The frequency 
with which this process is repeated largely determines 
the quality of the cheese. 

The average Alpine factory will make 200 to 400 
pounds of cheese a day. Occasionally one of the 
co-operative factories will make four loaves, or 800 
pounds, a day — two loaves from the morning's and 
two from the evening's milk. 

As a rule the family which does the cheese making 
has no part in producing the milk. Experts at their 
trade, these cheese makers are paid for their labor 
by those who own and tend the herds. The cheese 
factories are neighborhood affairs and nearly all of 
them are co-operative, the profits or losses from the 



CHEESE 181 

enterprise being shared by those farmers who send 
milk to it. Usually the cans of milk are hauled to 
the creamery in small, two-wheeled carts drawn by 
dogs. When the grade is steep or the pulling hard 
the peasant often takes hold of an extra strap or 
rope and gives the dog team a little friendly help. 

The Alpine pastures are indescribably rich and 
green, and are given a watchful care seldom bestowed 
upon meadows in America. They are much more 
like velvety lawns than pastures. In the lower 
districts about 80 per cent of the Swiss cheese is 
made where the cattle remain the year round. The 
cows are not allowed their freedom in a fenced pas- 
ture as in this country, but are staked out. No 
cow is moved on to a fresh grazing spot until she 
has made a clean job of cropping the grass Within 
the circle of her tether. This practice prevents the 
trampling and wasting of grass that is not eaten. 

The problem of plowing fields and doing other 
heavy farm work is often solved by the thrifty 
Swiss in a way almost unknown in this country. 
The milch cows are yoked and worked as we work 
oxen in America. But great care and judgment are 
required in order that this work shall not check 
or injure the cows' yield of milk. So the careful 
Swiss farmer, instead of working one pair of cows 
all day, uses three or four pairs in the course of a 
day's plowing and drives them so slowly that they 
chew their cuds contentedly while pulling the plow. 

But not all Swiss cheese is made under the co- 
operative plan. There is another kind of cheese 
making that is as picturesque as the scenes among 
which it is practiced. It might be called "following 
the snow line." 



182 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Before Switzerland became a republic, certain 
lords and nobles received grants of lands or "alps." 




Haying time on an Alpine farm. Thrifty Siviss farmers use the 
milch cows for farm work 

These alps were leased and released to one generation 
after another of the same peasant families. The 
word "alp" means not only a very high mountain 
but also a high mountain pasture and this is the 
meaning of the term when used in connection with 
the leased rights of pasturage. 

As soon as the snow begins to melt in the spring, 
the Swiss peasant having a pasture right of this kind 
starts with his herd and a portable cheese-making 
outfit on a slow ascent of the slope. Of course the 
snow begins melting from the lower edge of the 
great drift. Then only a few hours after the sun 
has banished it from a stretch of mountain side a 
green carpet of grass appears. 



CHEESE 



183 



The herdsmen who "follow the snow line" and 
graze their cows on these lofty Alpine pastures are 
usually their own cheese makers. They remain on 
the high slopes making cheeses until forced down by 
the coming of cold weather. Sometimes they and 
their cheese-making outfits are sheltered in rude 
stone huts, but very often in tents. When eating a 
piece of genuine imported Swiss cheese you may well 
say to yourself: "Quite possibly this was made by a 
wandering herdsman high up in the great Alps and 
cured in a rough hut or in a grotto built over a moun- 




Courtesy of R. A. White 

All summer the Swiss cheese maker stays on the high mountain 
pasture, herding his cows and making cheese until 
winter sends him back to the valleys 

tain spring. Probably he took his older boys and 
girls with him to watch the cows and 'keep house' 



184 THE STORY OF FOODS 

while he made the cheese and washed and rubbed 
it until it was cured." 

The prospect of a summer vacation of this kind 
would make many an American boy or girl almost 
wild with delight. 

English cheeses. From England we receive Stilton 
cheese, which is made in Leicestershire. It is made 
from the whole milk of cows, to which cream has 
been added, and is put up in twelve-pound cases 
of cheddar shape. Some Stilton cheese is cured by 
putting it in a bladder and smothering it in Bur- 
gundy wine. Although this is often done, it is by 
no means the usual method of curing. 

Stilton is a very rich cheese and has a sharp tang 
which suggests a family resemblance to Roquefort 
and Gorgonzola. It is said to have been made, for 
the first time, about the middle of the eighteenth 
century. 

Although few Cheshire cheeses find their way to 
America this cheese is probably the favorite with the 
English public. It might be called the mother of 
all English cheese from the fact that it is the oldest 
type made in the United Kingdom. It is made 
from cow's milk, unskimmed, and has a rich color 
and taste. A peculiarity of Cheshire cheese making 
is the use of a heated wooden box called an "oven." 
There is a cheese called the Cheshire-Stilton which 
combines the main characteristics of these two 
famous English cheeses. 

Another celebrated English cheese is the Cheddar. 
It takes its name from the quaint little hamlet of 
Cheddar in Somersetshire. Although this is con- 
sidered a good cheese it is especially important 
from the fact that it has given its name not only 



CHEESE 185 

to a style of cheese but also to a shape, which 
suggests a tall, round bandbox. This form has 
become the standard in America for the regular 
domestic " cream cheese" of commerce. The pecul- 
iarity of the English Cheddar in point of quality 
is its decided acidity. It is made from the sweet 
milk of cows. 

Canada makes large quantities of Cheddar cheese, 
but of a type more closely resembling the Cheddars 
of the United States than those of England. This 
is virtually the only kind of cheese made in Canada, 
which in a normal year produces about 200,000,000 
pounds, of which it exports 180,000,000 pounds. 

Other foreign cheeses. Germany is famed for 
its brick cheese, as well as for its Limburger. Lim- 
burger cheese, however, originated in Limbourg, 
Belgium, and not in Germany. 

Caerphilly is a hard Welsh cheese made from cow's 
milk; it is put up in eight-pound packages. Bohe- 
mia sends us Liptau cheese, which is made from 
goat's milk and is usually seasoned with red pepper 
and spices. It is packed in tinfoil. 

Odd types of cheese. There are many curious 
developments in cheese making — or at least they so 
appear to the boy or girl of the United States — 
caused by the kind of material available for curd. 
These oddities teach us that man is determined to 
have cheese and that he will make it of whatever 
kind of milk is most convenient for him to use. For 
example, in Lapland the most common cheese is 
made from the milk of reindeer. In certain parts 
of Italy, where the tame buffalo is much used as a 
work animal, a cheese called Latticini is made from 
buffalo's milk. 



186 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Several kinds of cheese are made by mixing the 
milk of different kinds of animals. The Montasio 
cheese of Carinthia, in Austria, is a blend of milk 
from cows and goats. In curing it is rubbed with 
olive oil. There are several styles of cheese made 
by mixing the milk of goats and sheep. 

One of the most remarkable of what might be 
called cheese confections is the "flower" cheese of 
England — a delicious soft cheese in which are impris- 
oned the petals of roses or marigolds, or other fra- 
grant blooms which give their bouquet to the cheese. 
Venezuela has a curious cheese called Queso de 
Cincho made in the form of balls pressed in palm 
leaves. The queer Gouda cheese of Holland — 
packed in bladders — occasionally reaches the Ameri- 
can market. 

Sources of our cheese supply. In a normal year 
we import about 50,000,000 pounds, or about 
$10,000,000 worth, of cheese. Of this Italy fur- 
nishes over 40 per cent, Switzerland 35 per cent, 
France about 9 per cent, the Netherlands 7 per cent, 
and Greece contributes about 5 per cent. 

In one year we imported more than $11,000,000 
worth of cheese. Of this we bought $5,024,270 
worth from Italy, $3,617,651 worth from Switzer- 
land, $1,032,817 worth from France, $455,159 worth 
from the Netherlands, and $447,124 worth from 
Greece. We also bought cheese from several other 
countries of Europe, Asia, Oceania, and South 
America and from Canada. 

It is well to remember, however, that about 95 per 
cent of the cheese eaten in the United States is made 
in this country. 



Chapter X 

HONEY 

The story of honey, one of our most popular 
sweets, is older than the Bible, older even than 
history. It was a favorite food of the ancients to 
whom sugar was unknown. 

What is honey? Honey is the nectar secreted 
by the glands of flowers and gathered by bees for 
their winter use. Of all the sweets that come to 
our tables, honey is undoubtedly the most delicate 
and fragrant. It might almost be called the per- 
fume of foods, for honey is the very essence of the 
flowers, sometimes retaining their distinctive aroma. 
Naturally the flowers of heavy perfume, growing in 
southern climates, secrete honey of much stronger 
flavor than those of a milder odor, common to more 
northerly climates. The warmer or temperate lands 
produce more honey because they have a greater 
abundance of flowers. Nevertheless, honey is gath- 
ered as far north as Finland and Quebec during the 
summer months. 

How honey is stored. Housed in hives, the bees 
build combs made of layers of pure wax and divided 
into thousands of tiny cells in which the honey is 
stored. As it takes the bees about half their time 
to build the combs, the modern bee farmer makes 
the comb bases for them of beeswax. The bees 
accept these gifts and begin their work of gather- 
ing honey with little loss of time. 

Bees as consumers of honey. The honey which 
the little workers store in the combs is used to feed 

187 



188 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



their young and to provision the entire swarm 
through the unproductive months when there are no 




One of the large bee ranches in California. The vast orchards and 
vineyards oj this state afford ideal conditions for the apiarist 

flowers from which to gather sweets. So the bee 
farmer must not take all the honey gathered by the 
bees; he must see that they have their share. For 
this purpose, the hive is divided into two parts, the 
lower, or "brood," section being for the honey used 
as bee food, and the upper part being for the honey 
which goes to the bee farmer, after the brood combs 
are filled. 

The frames, with their wax sheets of comb foun- 
dation, are called sections, each of which is intended 
to hold a pound of honey. Large frames are used 
when the beekeeper intends to extract the honey 
before marketing it. 

Quality, color, and flavor of honey. Most flowers 
secrete nectar, though by no means in uniform 
quantity or flavor. To this fact are due the differ- 
ences in quality, color, and flavor found among the 



HONEY 



189 




if Frank C. Pellett, 
Atlantic, Iowa 



A frame of honey to be extracted 



brands of honey from different parts of the world. 
The honey produced from orange blossoms, for 
instance, is of light color and mild flavor, while 
that produced from 
buckwheat is noted for 
its dark color and its 
very pronounced flavor. 
The quality of honey 
is also affected by the 
soil from which the flow- 
ers draw the material 
for making their nectar. 

Honey-yielding plants. In the United States, 
the greater part of the honey produced is alfalfa 
honey from the Western States, where several million 
dollars' worth is sold every year. Sweet clover, 
white sage, and other mountain flowers also contrib- 
ute to the western supply. In the Central States, 

white clover, sweet 
clover, Spanish needle, 
and heartsease furnish 
much of the supply. 
In the Southern States, 
cotton, mesquite, 
horsemint, and sweet 
clover, and in the East, 
North, and Canada, 
buckwheat and white 
clover are the leading 
honey flowers. Orange 
blossoms, cleome, aster, 
and basswood complete the list of the principal 
honey-yielding plants of North America. 

The bees of Scotland gather their honey from the 




Courtesy of Frank C. Pellett, 
Atlantic, Iowa 



A busy day at the hive 



190 THE STORY OF FOODS 

heather. The honey of England and Northern France 
is much like that of Scotland. In Mexico, the bees 



#< A to •» ^ *.*^9* .^ 



Courtesy of Frank C. Pellett, Atlantic, Iowa 

A frame of brood and bees 

secure it from the mesquite, the guajilla, the catclaw, 
and the horsemint. In the vicinity of Narbonne, 
France, the bees make Narbonne honey, which is 
like our white clover honey. The bees of Greece still 
draw their nectar from the wild thyme, as they have 
done from earliest ages when Mount Hymettus, near 
Athens, was celebrated, in many a classic master- 
piece of prose and verse, for the quality of its honey. 
Poisonous honey. Can you find Trebizond on 
your map? It is a town on the Black Sea in Asiatic 
Turkey. The bees in the country around Trebizond 
collect honey from poisonous flowers, and as a result 
the honey found there is poisonous. Great care is 
used to warn strangers against its use. Honey 
experts the world over know about the injurious 
qualities of Trebizond honey. 



HONEY 



191 



New and old ways of handling honey. You may 
have heard about "bee trees" and the ancient 
method of gathering honey from hollow logs or 
stationary boxes covered with boards. The old- 
fashioned bee farmer did not know how to gather 
his honey without making a dense cloud of smoke to 
drive out the bees, or killing the whole swarm with 
-sulphur fumes. The combs, which had to be cut 
from the box, could not possibly be removed without 
injuring the swarm. The honey obtained by this 




Courtesy of "American Bee Journal' 



Bee farmers of an up-to-date apiary taking the frames of 
honey from the hives 

method was usually of poor quality, containing bits 
of wood, bee glue, bee bread or pollen, and dead bees. 



192 THE STORY OF FOODS 

So when it was pressed out of the combs, it had to 
be strained, thereby gaining the name of ''strained" 
honey. 

The up-to-date bee farmer, however, uses movable 
frame hives and honey sections, in which each comb 
is hung separately in a frame. With the aid of a 
little smoke to keep the bees quiet, he can remove 
the honey with small waste of time and without 
killing a single bee or so much as getting his hands 
sticky from honey. This method enables him to 
keep the honey pure and sanitary and free from 
contact with any touch save that of the bees. 

Kinds of honey. When we go into a store to 
buy honey, we find that there are usually three 
kinds from which to choose. Comb honey is the 
product in the comb, just as it comes from the hive. 
Strained honey, now generally known as extracted 
honey, is that which has been extracted from the 
combs, strained, and put up in bottles or cans. 
It forms about nine tenths of all the honey sold. 
Candied or granulated honey is honey that has 
been allowed to crystallize into a kind of sugar. 

Blending honey. Because of the great variety 
of honey flavors, it is customary to blend the product, 
much as coffees and teas are blended. For instance, 
the flavor of the honey made from mountain sage 
is very mild, while that made from buckwheat is 
decidedly strong. But a blend of these two makes 
a very delicious honey. 

Wide use of honey. Honey is one of the most 
widely used of all foods. We are told by an explorer 
that when traveling through a river basin in the 
wildest and most unfrequented part of Burma and 
Tibet, his party was able to secure from the Lissu 



HONEY 193 

natives besides a few pounds of rice and maize 
two bamboo tubes full of honey. 

In one year, the United States imported from 
other countries more than 115,000 gallons of honey. 
About half of this came from Cuba, and perhaps a 
third from Mexico. Among many other countries 
from which we receive honey are Greece, New 
Zealand, Tasmania, China, Japan, Portugal, Switzer- 
land, Jamaica, England, Russia, and Turkey. 



13 



Chapter XI 

POULTRY 

Poultry and the meat supply. The importance of 
poultry as a part of our national meat supply is 
appreciated by very few of us. Outside of the 
poultry trade there is probably not one person in 
ten thousand who has a true idea of the immense 
volume of this kind of meat produced and consumed 
in our country every year. The people of the United 
States eat annually more than 250,000,000 domestic 
fowls, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, 
pigeons, and guinea fowls. 

Probably the reason why the importance of poul- 
try is so little appreciated is that the production 
is to so great an extent incidental. Almost every 
farmer in America has a flock of chickens which have 
the run of the farm and to which little attention is 
paid because they pick up the most of their living. 
Then, too, it is the common practice for the family 
in the village or country town to keep a few chickens, 
not as a money-making enterprise, but because the 
flock consumes the table waste and in return fur- 
nishes fresh eggs. 

Raising poultry. To a large extent poultry is a 
by-product of the farm and the village home, and is 
not produced like beef, pork, and mutton as a means 
of livelihood, or as a business enterprise. There- 
fore the magnitude of this food resource escapes the 
serious consideration of almost everybody. 

The very fact that a small flock of chickens can 
be kept by the village family having only a tiny 

194 



POULTRY 



195 



patch of ground — perhaps just enough for a small 
henhouse and a little yard — suggests the secret of 
the enormous total of poultry production. In other 
words, the army of poultry raisers vastly outnumbers 
those engaged in raising cattle, hogs, or sheep. 

Because the great volume of poultry raising is done 
in an incidental way, it must not be understood that 
it is never conducted as an industry in itself. There 
are thousands of poultry ranches in this country 
devoted to the exclusive production of table fowls 
and eggs. Then, too, it must be remembered that 
millions of city dwellers, especially those living in 
flats and apartments, are denied the privilege of 
keeping even a small flock of hens. This public, 
which is extremely large, must depend upon the 



- ,. A _ f 






• | 

UP \ 


! ... | ; ;'«!! I 


&i»p*^jgg ^M? 




""* ' "" iV ' V '"^*M 



Raising poultry as a business enterprise. There are twenty-five 
hundred hens kept on this successful poultry ranch 

feathered flocks of the farm, the village, and the 
"chicken ranch" for their eggs and poultry. 



196 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



But the man who raises the poultry does not 
usually sell his product direct to the consumer, any 





: \ 1 




W "" ■' '^^S^R^HnU 








^^^9 



Newly hatched chicks in the brooder house of a great poultry plant 

more than does the man who raises the beef we 
eat. There are middlemen who look after all 
the work connected with preparing and marketing 
these fowls. 

Feeding stations. The service of the middleman 
is sometimes far more interesting than you would 
suspect. As an instance, take the "feeding station" 
or "poultry-fleshing factory," as one of the United 
States government experts calls it: 

"The manufacture of chicken flesh is being put 
on a factory basis and made into a factory proposi- 
tion, improving the quality and increasing the 
quantity. In other words, we are learning how to 
do things. 

"The farmer feeds his birds on corn, if he feeds 
them at all. Generally, however, they must forage 



POULTRY 



197 



for a living. These birds when sent to the poultry 
packer are far from fat. It does not pay to ship 
other than plump birds to the market — hence the 
poultry dresser has installed what he terms 'feeding 
stations,' but which are, in reality, chicken-fleshing 
factories. 

" These are light, airy sheds, or rooms, holding 
anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 chickens, or other 
fowls, at a time. They are kept in what are termed 
'poultry feeding batteries/ which are mammoth bird 
cages constructed either of wire or of wire and wood. 
The birds eat out of feeding coops, which are kept 
scrupulously clean. 

"Only a few birds are put into each cage, that all 
may have plenty of air and each may get his full 





jE-Jf ' ! '^W^|Jp^ipy V,.* 1 i * h '$* * \- ^ i 










■JT- : .../ , *.. *<-',,''.. , ''" :;: ■ : ""' : '-:'-"^-''^: 


lllliiiiMMIBHB 



^4 turkey drive. The advance guard of fifteen hundred young 

turkeys and their mothers on their way to market 

in an approaching holiday season 

share of feed at the feeding time, which is, ordi- 
narily, twice a day. After being in these cages for 



198 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



fourteen days the birds are killed and dressed. 
During that time they are expected to gain at least 




qA3»r.> 



"^>-XJL 



Section of a pigeon-breeding yard. There is a constant and 
increasing demand for squabs or young pigeons 

20 per cent of their original weight. Frequently 
they gain more. The flesh which is produced under 
these circumstances is very tender and better 
flavored than that of the chickens that are allowed 
to run loose and pick up what feed they can find. 

"The feed used in these fleshing factories is a 
mixture of corn, wheat, oats, and buttermilk, and 
in some cases meat scrap or alfalfa is added. The 
buttermilk is by far the most important part of the 
ration and is responsible for such birds having the 
market designation 'milk fed.' 

"After the poultry is killed, unless consumed 
locally it is shipped to city markets or cold storage 
plants. In cold storage it can be kept in perfect 



POULTRY 199 

condition for several months, and marketed when 
fresh poultry is scarce. Into these cold storage 
plants go millions of dollars' worth of poultry every 
year, and there it is held until the fresh stock is 
exhausted and the markets call for the reserve 
birds." 

Cold storage poultry. Concerning the ability of 
American cold storage plants to furnish poultry in 
season, the same government expert says: 

"The poultry which is coming to market in such 
enormous quantities is going to the storage ware- 
houses very largely, and we have no public reports 
of the holdings of poultry in warehouses, either 
public or private, in this country. But we know 
this: that all broilers (young chickens) for the entire 
year's supply are produced from July to October. 
All soft-meated roasters (chickens about six months 
old) are produced from September to December. 
There is never a time on any market when one 
cannot obtain these strictly seasonal types of 
chickens provided one is willing to pay for them. 
Therefore, it may be assumed that a sufficient 
number of broilers and roasters go into the ware- 
houses to supply the demand throughout the nine 
months during which each variety is not produced." 

Wild fowl. While the people of this country each 
year kill and eat hundreds of thousands of wild fowl 
of various kinds, mainly ducks, geese, quail, prairie 
chicken, partridges, pheasants, and turkeys, the 
volume of our wild game food with each year is fast 
becoming smaller and smaller. Every state in the 
Union, as well as the national government, has strict 
laws intended to keep the killing of game birds 
within reasonable limits. But in spite of these wise 



200 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



statutes, this branch of our food resources, which 
might well be called the poultry of the woods, has 
been steadily shrinking until it is now only a mere 
fraction of its former volume. 

For this reason many states are wisely liberating 
large numbers of English pheasants, quail, and other 
game birds that can be successfully hatched and 
reared in captivity. Where this has been done in a 
systematic and intelligent way, the woods and 
prairies have been restocked with game birds as fine 
and as valuable for food as those upon which the 
pioneers of our country depended for their "feathered 
meat." It is well to remember that the early settlers 
of our country depended upon wild game for meat 




Courtesy of Wallace Evi 



A flock of English pheasants. To-day large numbers of pheasants 
are being reared to replace the game birds of our country 

to almost as great an extent as we do to-day upon 
the "poultry-fleshing stations" and chicken ranches. 



Chapter XII 



MEATS 



The live-stock industry. The world's meat indus- 
try is so immense that one needs a keen imagination 
indeed in order to grasp its size and importance. 
It contributes to the tables of every civilized people 




Courtesy of N. Dak. Dept. Agr. and Labor 

A herd of cattle on a ranch in the Northwest, one of the important 
meat-producing sections of the United States 

and to the feasts of many savage tribes, and it draws 
upon the resources of almost every country. The 
ranges and pastures of the United States, the plains 
of Hungary, the steppes of Russia, the pampas of 
South America, and the wild reaches of the Austra- 
lian "salt bush" all help in the giant task of pro- 
ducing the world's meat. 

No country is so densely populated and none so 
sparsely settled that it is not called upon to share 
in the interesting labor of raising live stock to feed 
the human race. Each country naturally selects 
that part of the work for which it is best adapted. 

201 



202 THE STORY OF FOODS 

England the nursery of the meat industry. It 

might be thought, for example, that England, with 
its 51,000 square miles of land and its 34,000,000 
population, would leave the raising of animals to 
countries with much more room for the four-footed 
creatures. But the "tight little isle" may fairly 
be called the nursery of the live-stock industry, 
for it raises the breeding material for the finest 
flocks and herds of the great meat-producing coun- 
tries of the world. In other words, the beauti- 
ful country estates of England do for the live-stock 
industry of the United States, Canada, South 
America, Australia, and South Africa what the 
research laboratory does for the great manufacturing 
industry that it is intended to serve — they develop 
with the greatest degree of certainty and at the 
smallest expense the types of live stock best calcu- 
lated to meet special public demands. 

For instance, in the early stages of the cattle 
industry in America the Texas longhorn, a wild, 
gaunt creature, was the most common type. While 
it was adapted to range over wide reaches of country 
and could exist on plains that would look like deserts 
to the boy or girl of our settled farming country, 
it was not easy to fatten. Cattle of this kind have 
been almost wholly supplanted by the Hereford, 
the Shorthorn, and the Angus breeds developed on 
English meadows. There, by patient selection, has 
been bred a type of animal which, on the smallest 
amount of feed, takes on the greatest amount of 
flesh in the shortest period of time. 

In sheep, Shropshires, Hampshires, and Oxfords 
are equally celebrated types of mutton sheep which 
have been perfected in England and distributed to 



MEATS 



203 



distant parts of the world. They have become the 
ancestors of the great flocks that graze on the western 




Descendants of a famous English breed of Sheep. A flock of 

celebrated Hampshire Downs in the "Blue Grass 

Country" of Kentucky 

ranges of the United States, the plains of Australia, 
the pampas of South America, and the veldts of 
South Africa. 

As a nursery for the types of swine which are in 
greatest demand where the biggest part of the world's 
pork is produced, England again heads the list, with 
the Berkshires, the Yorkshires, the Hampshires, and 
the Tamworths. 

In cattle, sheep, and swine, England has perfected 
many other breeds quite as famous as those men- 
tioned. Many other small and densely populated 
countries have helped to build up the live-stock 
industry in much this same way, although to a 
less extent than England. 



MEATS 205 

Home of pedigreed stock. It is interesting to 
know that the ancestors of most of the meat animals 
of the great live-stock-producing countries of the 
world, like the ancestors of most of the people of 
the United States, have come from the small and 
highly developed countries of Europe. In thousands 
of instances the pedigree of these animals may be 
traced with quite as much exactness as the family 
trees of the widely scattered descendants of peoples 
in continental Europe and the British Isles. 

World-wide distribution of meat. Another inter- 
esting phase of the live-stock industry is its tendency 
to scatter out over the world and then return to the 
place of its origin. Yeai after year, England is 
sending to Australia, New Zealand, South America, 
South Africa, the United States, and Canada ' ' founda- 
tion stock" for flocks of sheep of the best mutton 
types, and the descendants of these sheep are sent 
back to England in the shape of frozen mutton. 

In the same way the cut of beef served in an 
English chop-house may easily have come from a 
Hereford steer born and pastured in Texas, and 
stall-fed in Illinois, whose grandsire was raised in 
Herefordshire, England. 

The remarkable range of distribution in canned 
and dried meats is suggested by the fact that various 
parts of a single beef animal, for example, may be 
eaten in a dozen different countries scattered widely 
over the surface of the earth. There is no spot on 
the globe reached by traffic where meats in these 
forms have not found their way. 

Meat-producing countries. Although about half 
the inhabitants of the earth eat but little meat, 
there are few people who do not eat at least some 



206 THE STORY OF FOODS 

every year. The burden of the immense work of meat 
production falls chiefly upon nine countries, and of 
these only the Argentine, Australia, the United 
States, Canada, Uruguay, and New Zealand have 
enough range and pasturage to be able to export 
any considerable amount of meat. But Denmark, 
although a small country, sends large amounts of 
its famous bacon to all parts of the world. In 
normal times, Mexico and Russia also export a cer- 
tain amount of meat. Brazil is rapidly developing 
as an exporter of meats. 

The world's surplus of mutton is raised mostly in 
Australia, New Zealand, and the Argentine, and the 
excess beef in South America, Australia, and North 
America. Three fourths of the world's pork exports 
are from the United States. Practically all the beef 
eaten in countries where it is not extensively raised 
is grown on the American continents. 

The meat-exporting countries in one year sent 
almost 4,000,000,000 pounds of meat to the importing 
countries, most of it being "jerked" (dried) and 
frozen. America, however, exported some fresh 
meat, which was carried to European ports in fast 
refrigerated steamships. 

Stock raising in South Africa. There is constant 
pressure to extend the area of meat production. 
In far-off Africa much attention is being given to the 
raising of animals for meat. But in British South 
Africa adverse conditions exist and it is only by 
the greatest effort that the stock raisers there have 
been able to increase the production of meat animals. 
In some parts of that country, because of irregular 
and insufficient rainfall, it is necessary for every 
stock raiser to have both highland and lowland 



MEATS 207 

ranges. The uplands are used in summer for range 
and the lowlands in winter. In the drier parts of 
South Africa it sometimes requires from ten to 
twelve acres of land to support one sheep, and at 
least five times as many acres are needed for each 
head of cattle. 

Suppose this condition existed in England or in 
Germany! The result would be an international 
calamity. In the thickly populated countries of 
Europe live stock must be raised on a minimum 
amount of land, and in Japan, where population is 
dense and tillable land scarce, the people practice 
intensive agriculture largely to the exclusion of the 
raising of live stock. To a great extent they sub- 
stitute fish from the sea for the meats we enjoy. 

American packing industry. In the great cattle- 
raising countries of South America and Australia 
are maintained enormous packing plants and cold 
storage warehouses, where thousands of cattle and 
sheep are prepared for export. But in studying the 
processes of preparing meat for the table, we cannot 
do better than consider the American packing 
industry, the greatest in the world — an industry 
whose products for a single year were valued at 
more than $1,500,000,000. 

The principal domestic animals raised in this 
country for food are cattle, sheep, swine, and some 
goats. Since beef is the most important of our meat 
products, let us study that first. 

The story of beef. Let us imagine that we are 
following a steer from his home pasture to the table 
at which he is to be eaten. In Colorado there is a 
certain ranch where the finest steers are raised. 
Surely there could be no better place to look for our 



208 THE STORY OF FOODS 

animal than on the rich, alfalfa-covered hillsides of 
this ranch. So let us assume that we are there and 
that we have selected a sleek "white face," which is 
being driven into the loading corral. He is four years 
old, weighs about eighteen hundred pounds, and has 
a distinctive mark which makes it easy to identify 
him. On his flank is the scar of the branding iron. 
The brand, let us assume, is a circle between two 
short lines, which means that the name of the ranch 
on which he was raised is the "Bar Circle Bar." 

The loading corral into which our "white face" 
has been driven is on a spur of a railroad, a thousand 
miles or more from Packingtown. In the same 
corral are almost two thousand other steers, which 
within a week will all have gone through the stock- 
yards at Chicago. 

Usually ranchers sell their two- and three-year- 
olds to "feeders," who put them on rich pasturage 
and feed them corn and other fattening rations, 
until each steer has taken on several hundred addi- 
tional pounds of flesh. There are "feeders" in the 
corn belt states who do nothing but buy undeveloped 
cattle from ranches, fatten them, and sell them for 
high-grade beef. There are also thousands of farmers 
scattered throughout the Middle West of the United 
States who take a few steers each fall, when range 
cattle come to the market in great numbers, owing 
to the ending of the pasture season, to "finish," or 
stall feed. "Native steers" are those finished on 
the farms where they are born. They are usually 
choice animals. 

The Bar Circle Bar ranch maintains its own rich 
alfalfa pastures and large sheds for winter feeding. 
It is one of the last of the very big ranches and has 



MEATS 



209 



many miles of range. In pioneer days, our western 
ranches had almost unlimited ranges, the ranchers 




Brown Bros. 

Rounding up the cattle on a great ranch in the Southwest 

being allowed to graze their cattle and sheep at will 
over the virgin prairies. But with the march of 
civilization and the enforcement of fencing laws, the 
great free ranges have disappeared, the big ranches 
have been cut up into smaller ones, and the plow 
has turned the range into farms. 

From the loading corral our "white face" is put 
into a cattle car, together with a number of his 
brothers, and shipped to Chicago. Here the car is 
switched onto the railroad tracks which enter the 
stockyards and he is unloaded into one of the many 
thousand pens there. 

J The Chicago Union Stockyards, although standing 
alongside the great packing plants, is simply a hotel 
for live stock, in which as many as half a million ani- 
mals in a single day may be received and cared for as 

14 



MEATS 211 

"guests," although not more than about a third 
that number have ever been "entertained" at one 
time. Here the stock is received by a commission 
man designated by the shipper, whose business it is 
to sell them to the highest bidder, whether he be a 
local packer, a buyer from the eastern cities, or a 
"feeder." For its service the stockyards company 
receives a certain sum for each animal handled, and 
the commission man gets a fee for his work. 

Our big steer is bought for one of the packing 
houses by a busy man in a raincoat, who clatters 
along the stone-paved streets of the stockyards on 
horseback. One of the many buyers in the stock- 
yards, he is an expert on cattle values. He can tell 
at a glance the quality of a steer, how much market- 
able beef the animal will "dress," and what percent- 
age of that will go into fine cuts. If he sees an 
especially fine grain-fed steer he will bid high for it 
against other buyers who want the same animal. 

In the next pen are two brand inspectors, or cattle 
detectives. These men, employed by the cattle 
associations, are familiar with every brand used to 
mark cattle. If any seller tries to dispose of an 
animal that does not bear his registered brand, it 
is the duty of these inspectors to learn how the 
animal was obtained. This is to prevent stolen 
cattle from being marketed through the stockyards. 

After being passed by the brand inspectors, fed, 
watered, and allowed to rest for a day or two, our 
"white face" is transferred, along with several 
others, to a pen in Packingtown. Now for a 
short time we must lose sight of him and await his 
reappearance in the chilling room in the form of 
two halves of beef, his head gone and his sleek hide 



212 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



on its way to the tannery. In the chilling room, the 
animal heat is thoroughly removed from the carcass. 




Brown Bros. 



In the chilling room. Corn-fed beef in the coolers ready for shipment 
to the markets of the world 

Every carcass in a packing house is examined by 
United States government inspectors. There are 
almost four hundred of these officials in Packing- 
town. All carcasses that are passed are stamped 
with the United States stamp, which reads, "U. S. 
Inspected and Passed." This is a virtual guaranty 
that the meat is wholesome. 

For forty-eight hours the carcasses are allowed to 
remain in the chilling room, which is kept at 
36 degrees above zero. A few of these carcasses 
are sent to the local salesrooms, from which they 
are sold to the retail meat dealers. By far the 
greater number, however, are cooled to the desired 



MEATS 213 

temperature, loaded into thousands of modern 
refrigerator cars owned by the packers, and shipped 
to distant distributing points. 

Only 56 to 58 per cent of the average steer can be 
sold for table use. This leaves about 43 per cent 
waste. But this waste has been banished. Probably 
no other industry has so completely mastered the 
art of utilizing waste. Even the gallstones of the 
animals are sold to the Japanese to be made into 
good-luck talismans. The blood is pressed, dried, 
and made into blood meal, used in balancing rations 
for feeding hogs and chickens and in the manufac- 
ture of fertilizer. 

If your local butcher kills his own animals, as a 




Preparing meat for beef broth, one of the important products 

of a great canning factory. _ This factory puts up 

many varieties of high-class soups 

few of them do, you may learn from him that he 
uses only the meat, hide, and brains. If the great 



214 THE STORY OF FOODS 

packing houses used no more of the animal than 
these products, meat would be far more expensive 
than it is now. But it is only the large killing estab- 
lishments that are able to provide the facilities for 
turning every scrap of waste into a valuable by- 
product. To do this requires large and expensive 
plants with elaborate equipment. 

There is a certain class of butcher who uses only 
the fore quarters of the steer. This is the shohet, 
a Jewish Rabbi, who butchers the Kosher-killed 
cattle, the only meat the religion of the orthodox 
Jew will permit him to eat. 

Now let us follow the halves of our white-faced 
steer from the chilling room to their final destination. 
One half of the carcass was sold to a local hotel and 
was transferred by auto truck to its cold storage 
room, and was there cut into choice steaks and roasts 
and served to the guests in a beautiful dining room. 
The other half of our Hereford was bought by an 
out-of-town customer. It was loaded into'a waiting 
refrigerator car, and delivered the following morning 
at a meat market in a town about a hundred miles 
away. 

The tongue of our steer was pickled and its brains 
were frozen for shipment. The remainder of the 
carcass not used as meat was put through the various 
waste-saving processes and came out as by-products. 

A large percentage of the meat from lean animals 
is canned. They are commonly called " scrubs" or 
"canners." This does not mean that their meat is of 
an inferior quality, but simply that it contains less 
moisture and fat and is therefore less tender. So it 
is more suitable for canning purposes than for steaks 
and roasts. 



MEATS 



215 




i 



Shipping sheep and swine. Now let us see what 
becomes of the other meat-producing animals sent 
to the packers. Sheep 
and swine are often 
shipped in two-story 
cars called " double 
deckers." All live- 
stock cars are equipped 
with feeding and 
watering troughs and 
must be accompanied 

On their journeys by A Poland China prize winner 

attendants, whose duty it is to see that the animals 
receive proper and humane attention. When the ani- 
mals reach the stockyards they are transferred into 
clean, sanitary pens, which are under the constant 
scrutiny of United States government inspectors. 
Changing hogs into pork. Suppose we follow a 
hog from the pen through the plant. After being 
killed, the hog is dipped into scalding water to 
loosen the bristles, which are then deftly scraped 
off and started on their journey to be prepared 

for the brush makers. 
Swinging from an 
overhead trolley rail 
the carcass, as it passes 
slowly down the line, 
is cleaned and dis- 
emboweled by various 
workmen. Each oper- 
ation is observed by 
the ever- watchful government inspectors, who reject 
any animal that does not meet the strict require- 
ments of the law. Carcasses thus condemned are 




A champion Tamworth 



216 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



rendered into inedible grease and fertilizer materials. 
Those that pass inspection are so stamped and sent 
on to the chilling rooms. 

Now in place of the hog, we have so many pounds 
of pork. As with beef, this pork may be sold to 
dealers in country towns, frozen and shipped abroad, 
sold in local markets, or it may be cured. About 
as many products are made from its waste as from 
the waste of a beef carcass. 

The history of the sheep passing through Packing- 
town is much the same as that of the steer and the 
hog. After he enters the packing plant, his skin is 
removed and his carcass inspected by the United 




In a sausage factory. Here pork that has been changed into 

sausage is now being stuffed into "casings" and 

made ready for marketing 

States inspectors and then sent to the chilling room, 
and from there to the trade or else to cold storage. 



MEATS 



217 



Canned meats for the world. In the heart of Pack- 
ingtown are establishments which supply canned 




Corned-beef tins coming from the vacuum-sealing machine. The filled 
tins are automatically conveyed to the sealing machine 

meats to every part of the world. One plant there 
received a single order calling for 48,000,000 pounds 
of corned beef. The raw corned beef we buy at 
the butcher shop is not the canned corned beef 
of commerce. The latter is a carefully cooked food 
which comes from its container ready for the table. 
On the top floor of this plant we find the cooking 
rooms, where stand rows of big iron vats in which 
the corned beef is cooked. These vats are heated 
by steam coils. From the basement cutting rooms, 
a great automatic carrier brings tons of cured beef 
up to this cooking floor. The meat has previously 
been cut into strips and allowed to soak for several 
days in a pickle of salt, saltpeter, and sugar. 



218 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



When the meat reaches the cooking floor, it is 
placed in the big vats of boiling water and allowed 




A sterilizing tank in a modern meat-packing establishment 

to cook until the head chef, who superintends the 
cooking, pronounces it done. Then it is dipped 
out into aluminum buckets which travel along 
an overhead trolley. These buckets automatically 
dump their loads into a chute which passes the meat 
down upon aluminum-covered, traylike tables on 
the floor below, where it is sorted by hand, and the 
excess fat and gristle cut off. Next the meat goes 
through a series of cutting machines which cut it 
into smaller bits of the size desired. 

The corned beef is then sent through other chutes 
to the floor below and there put into cans, which are 
filled by large automatic machines. One of these 
machines will fill 22,000 one-pound cans in a day. 



MEATS 



219 



There are eight of these can-filling machines kept 
constantly busy. 

Bouillon cubes. This factory also makes meat 
extract and bouillon cubes from meat scraps or 
trimmings — not from blood, as some suppose. The 
scraps are cooked slowly until all the flavor is ex- 
tracted from them. The liquid is then boiled until 
it becomes almost solid, when it is known as meat 
extract. Meat extract and certain vegetable ex- 
tracts are combined and baked and then formed 
into bouillon cubes. 

Nationalities of Packingtown workers. At the 
present time the Union Stockyards and Packingtown 
employ workers from forty-four different countries. 
If you draw lines on your world map from Chicago 
to the countries listed below, you will see how many 
thousand miles many of the men have traveled who 
work in Chicago's great packing plants. 

Home Countries of Packingtown Workers 



Alaska 


Denmark 


Norway 


Arabia 


East Indies 


Peru 


Argentine Republic 


Egypt 


Poland 


Australia 


England 


Portugal 


Austria 


France 


Roumania 


Belgium 


Germany 


Russia 


Bolivia 


Greece 


Scotland 


Brazil 


Hawaiian Islands 


Serbia 


British South Africa 


India 


Spain 


Bulgaria 


Ireland 


Sweden 


Canada 


Italy 


Switzerland 


Chile 


Japan 


Turkey 


China 


Kamerun 


United States 


Costa Rica 


Mexico 


West Indies 


Cuba 


New Zealand 





From this we learn that the meat industry not 
only furnishes food to all countries but also gives 
employment to many of their people. 



220 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Varieties of canned meats. Have you any idea 
of the variety of canned meats that can be bought? 
If your mother had one can of each kind of tinned 
meat, her pantry would indeed be well stocked, for 
at least sixty-two kinds are produced. Packingtown 
alone sends millions of dollars' worth all over the world. 
Canned Meats Prepared in Packingtown 



beef and vegetables 

beefsteak and onions 

beef suet 

boneless chicken 

brawn 

brisket beef 

broiled beef 

calves' brains 

chicken and tongue 

chicken soup 

chicken tamale 

chile con carne 

chipped dried beef 

chop suey 

compressed corned ham 

compressed pigs' feet 

consomme 

corned beef 

corned beef hash 

corned pork 

deviled chicken 

deviled ham 

deviled tongue 

deviled turkey 

frankfurter bratwurst 

hamburger loaf 

hamburger steak and onions 

ham loaf 

head cheese 

Irish stew 

jellied hocks 



lamb's tongue 

liver and bacon 

minced collops 

minced steak 

New England boiled dinner 

ox marrow 

ox tails 

ox-tail soup 

ox tongue 

pickled lamb's tongue 

pickled pigs' feet 

pickled tripe 

pork sausage meat 

potted beef 

potted chicken 

potted ham 

potted tongue 

potted turkey 

roast beef 

roast beef hash 

roast chicken 

roast mutton 

roast veal 

sauer kraut and sausage 

sliced bacon, in glass and tin 

sweetbreads 

tripe 

tripe and onions 

veal loaf 

Vienna sausage 

Vienna sausage, tomato sauce 



Other packing centers. While we have described 
Packingtown at Chicago, it should be remembered 
that there are many other great packing centers in 
the United States. Among the most important of 
these are Kansas City, New York, Omaha, Indian- 
apolis, East St. Louis, and Buffalo. 



MEATS 221 

How packers distribute their products. Before 
studying the different cured meats, let us learn how 
it is possible for the American packing house to dis- 
tribute its products all over the world, to sell to the 
British colonist in South Africa, to the native of far 
distant Chosen, to the peasant of Northern Siberia. 

Packingtown concerns have more than a thousand 
branch houses and offices scattered broadcast over 
the face of the globe. Under normal conditions, one 
packing plant alone has about five hundred salesmen 
engaged in selling its products throughout the 
United Kingdom and continental Europe. The 
various governments buy their meat by contracting 
for so many thousands or millions of pounds of a 
certain kind, to be delivered within a specified time. 

In the principal cities of Europe, South America, 
and Asia, American packers have branch houses and 
offices, from which their salesmen solicit business. 
Thus, meat markets in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London, 
Madrid, Stockholm, or any other large European 
city, are visited by salesmen who draw their pay 
from Packingtown. 

Of course, it would not be good business to send 
a salesman through the wilds of Africa or India in 
order to sell a few natives a small supply of corned 
beef, or into the heart of Siberia to secure orders 
for a few barrels of fat pork from scattered peasants 
there. So these sales must be made in another way. 

Now suppose little Nickol, who lives on the great 
steppes in Southern Siberia, between the Irtysh 
River and Balkhash Lake, has become tired of the 
goat meat from his father's herd, and longs for 
another taste of delicious ham like that which his 
eldest brother had once sent them from Petrograd. 



222 THE STORY OF FOODS 

As it is now nearly Christmas and Nickol has worked 
hard, his father decides to have an American ham for 




Courtesy 

An American salesman in Asia 

their Christ's Day feast. So, the next time he goes 
to town, he tells the butcher there that he wants 
an American ham — a big, sweet, American ham. 
May he have it for Christmas, which is only three 
weeks away? Yes; the butcher will see that it is on 
hand before Christmas. 

That night the butcher writes to the wholesale 
house at Omsk and includes in his order the ham for 
little Nickol. The wholesale house at Omsk adds 
this to the order which it is sending to the big meat 
supply company in Petrograd. The Petrograd meat 
company has orders for many other hams, sides of 
bacon, and cases of American canned meats, and it 
telephones to the branch house of an American 
packing concern, with the result that the meat is 



MEATS 223 

delivered to its plant the following morning. Within 
two weeks the ham is at the butcher's shop waiting 
for little Nickol's father to call and get it. 

This method of selling applies to canned meats 
as well as to other kinds of meats. But there are 
also direct importers in foreign countries who have 
the goods shipped from Packingtown straight to their 
own distributing houses. 

Cured meats. When we speak of cured meats, 
we mean those which have been pickled, dried, or 
smoked. The dried meat of the packer is somewhat 
similar to the smoked article, whereas the meat dried 
by our forefathers, by the American Indians and the 
natives of South America, Australia, and other 
countries usually was not smoked. The dried beef 
from Packingtown when sliced and canned is also 
known as " chipped beef." The large packing 
houses of this country pickle the meat in brine 
before smoking it. 

The story of ham. As ham is one of the most 
delicious and popular of cured meats, its story is too 
important and interesting to be omitted. Hams 
may be had in three forms: fresh, boiled, and smoked. 

The fresh ham is the hip of the hog just as it is 
cut from the dressed animal. In the preparation 
of the boiled ham of commerce, the greater portion 
of the fat is trimmed from the ham, the bones re- 
moved, and the skin again tied down over the lean 
ham. Then it is placed in an enormous " steamer" 
and thoroughly cooked. After this it is ready 
for sale. 

The smoked ham, of the kind commonly served 
with eggs, is first placed in a solution of sugar, 
salt, and saltpeter and allowed to pickle for a period 



224 THE STORY OF FOODS 

which depends upon its size. The hams are first 
sorted and graded into sizes; that is, those weighing 
eight to ten pounds, for example, will be treated 
as one size, and those of ten to twelve pounds as 
another. By this method of grading it is possible 
to secure a uniform pickle or cure. 

After the hams have been properly cured, they are 
thoroughly washed in automatic washing machines 
and then transferred to the smokehouses on large 
iron carriers, or inverted " trees," from which the 
hams hang without touching one another. These 
" trees," being suspended from overhead trolleys, 
are easily shunted about. There are fifty hams 
hanging on one of these trees as it is wheeled into 
the smokehouse. 

The smokehouses in the plant we are visiting 
each have five stories and the floors are a steel net- 
work. On the bottom floor of the smokehouses, fires 
fed with hickory wood and hardwood- sawdust are 
smoldering. These fires send up an aromatic sweet- 
smelling, smoke which gives the hams a delicious 
flavor. The temperature of the smokerooms ranges 
from 100 to 130 degrees above zero. A cord to a 
cord and a half of wood is used in smoking a ''house " 
of meat. Each smokehouse has a capacity of 35,000 
hams or sides of bacon, and there are 26 houses 
in this plant. After leaving the smokeroom, the 
hams are branded, inspected, and sent to the shipping 
and packing room. The hams are now ready for 
the consumer. 

Bacon sides go through the same process as that 
used in curing ham. The bacon is obtained from 
the breast and sides of the hog, the breast pieces 
being the choicest. 



MEATS 225 

Pickled and salted meats. There are many 
varieties of vinegar-pickled, salt-pickled, and dry- 
salted meats, the most common of which are pickled 
pigs' feet, pickled tongue, tripe, and salt pork of 
different cuts. We also have a large export trade 
in pickled pigs' tails and ears, but these are not 
generally eaten in this country. 

In the curing of dry-salt pork the meat is rubbed 
well with salt. It is then allowed to stand in vats 
or in great piles on the clean floor until the salt has 
drawn the moisture from the meat and thoroughly 
cured it. A single packing plant salts many thou- 
sand pounds of pork each week . 

Because of its wonderful keeping qualities, this 
meat is shipped to all parts of the world. It is used 
in the tropics because it will not ferment in the heat, 
and in the polar regions because cold does not affect 
it. This is generally true of all cured meats, but 
especially of the salted. 

How by-products affect prices. We are told that 
the world's monthly meat bill amounts to almost 
$1,000,000,000. The bill would, no doubt, amount 
to several hundred million dollars more if it were 
not for the salvage income from the by-products 
of this industry, which tends to keep down the price 
of meat. 

By-products many and varied. More than eighty 
different kinds of drugs are by-products of the meat 
industry. One American plant manufactures over 
seventy-five medicinal preparations, the most famil- 
iar of which, perhaps, is pepsin, extracted from 
the linings of pig stomachs. Rennet — best known 
as an essential for curdling milk in the making of 
cheese — is also a product of this plant. 

15 



226 THE STORY OF FOODS 

The leather in the shoes you wear is furnished by 
this industry. For much of the music you enjoy 
you are directly indebted to the live stock which 
contribute strings for musical instruments. Fish 
lines, strings for tennis rackets, and other like 
things come from the same source. Even the fur- 
niture maker looks to the waste of Packingtown for 
his glue. Buttons, ornaments, and jewelry in almost 
endless variety are by-products of the meat-packing 
industry. 

From the following list you will learn that we get 
many things from the packing industry besides food. 

Principal By-products of the Packing Industry 

all kinds of leathers inedible grease 

artificial teeth laundry soaps 

beef extract musical strings 

buttons napkin rings 

candles neatsfoot oil 

canned edible products nursing rings 

formerly wasted oleomargarine 

combs pancreatin 

crotchet needles pepsin 

dice perfumes 

drum snares pipestems 

fertilizer rennet 

gelatine stock feeds 

glue suprarenal — worth more 
glycerine than five thousand dol- 

hair for brushes lars a pound 

handles for knives tennis strings 

handles for razors thyroid tablets 

hair for upholstering toilet soaps 

hairpins umbrella handles 

imitation stag horn wool 

Oleomargarine or "packing-house butter." One 

of the most important products of the modern pack- 
ing plant is oleomargarine. It is often used by 
those who feel that they cannot afford first-class 
butter at current prices. It is made of milk solid 
or butter fat, vegetable oil, neutral, and oleo oil, or 



MEATS 227 

animal fat. Here is an approximate formula of 
a high-grade oleomargarine, or butterine, as it is 
sometimes called: 

Oleo oil 45 per cent 

Vegetable oil 14 per cent 

Neutral 12 per cent 

Butter fat 15 per cent 

Moisture and salt 14 per cent 

100 per cent 
Oleo oil, which is made by melting and pressing 
the finest beef fat, is indisputably wholesome. So 
is the vegetable oil. The finest quality of lard, 
which contains nothing impure or harmful, is known 
as a base for many medicinal preparations, besides 
serving as a body for oleomargarine. 

Moisture is necessary for the working of the 
oleomargarine, and salt is used to add flavor and 
improve the keeping qualities of the food. Oleo- 
margarine comes out of the churn snowy white in 
color. If coloring is added before it is sold to the 
consumer an additional tax is levied upon it by the 
United States government. 

The world's annual production of oleomargarine 
is between 1,500,000,000 and 2,000,000,000 pounds. 
Of this amount, America produces about 145,000,000 
pounds. England and Germany consume nearly 
half of the world's total output of this food. In 
Denmark, a land long famous for its fine butter, an 
average of 25 pounds of oleomargarine to the person 
is eaten each year. Holland, another dairy country, 
consumes 20 pounds a year per capita. In the 
United States, the average per capita consumption 
of oleomargarine is only 1.5 pounds a year. 



Chapter XIII 

THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 

Meat eating and national character. Many stu- 
dents of national traits tell us that the tendencies 
of a people may be read in the figures of their meat 
consumption. They insist that the kind and amount 
of meat eaten by a nation reveals the general char- 
acter of its citizens and serves as a kind of ther- 
mometer of national temperament. Other equally 
able thinkers say that this conclusion is altogether 
too radical. They contend, instead, that the meat 
consumption of a country is really an index to the 
health of its people, and especially to the increase in 
density of its population. 

Whether either of these theories is correct or incor- 
rect, the fact remains that "meat figures" are full of 
meaning, although the difficulty of obtaining reliable 
statistics has proved to be quite as great as the 
importance of the subject. 

The story figures tell. Until the United States 
Department of Agriculture made an extensive 
investigation of the world's production, distribution, 
and consumption of meats, few dependable facts in 
this field of information were available. Through 
the special courtesy of the Bureau of Crop Estimates, 
there is given in this chapter what are probably the 
most authentic and vital "meat figures" thus far 
made public. 

Usually figures make rather dry reading, but this 
time the common rule is reversed, for the figures 
tell a story so big, so new, and so important that 

228 



THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 229 

no thoughtful person can fail to be interested in 
what they reveal. In order to make these state- 
ments seem much more real and important, it is sug- 
gested that when you come to a line of figures, you 
try to see in their places the actual things for which 
they stand. 

Our supply of beef, mutton, and pork. There are 
more than 61,000,000 head of cattle on United 
States farms. If these cattle were placed in a line 
side by side, as close together as they could stand, 
this line would stretch around the world and still 
leave more than enough to extend from Maine to 
California. Yet, strange to say, we are forced to 
import cattle. In the year of 1913 we brought in 
almost 500,000. Although we eat more meat than 
any other nation, we do not by any means consume 
all the animals that we raise and import. If equally 
divided among the inhabitants of the United States 
our total meat consumption would amount to 
170 pounds a year for each person. No other 
country in the world sells as much meat as the 
United States. In one year we sold to other nations 
about 2,500,000,000 pounds of beef, mutton, and 
pork. 

Our farmers also have almost 68,000,000 head of 
swine. It is unnecessary for us to import swine 
save for foundation stock. There are about 50,000,- 
000 sheep on our farms and we import about 15,000 
a year for choice breeding stock and over 100,000 
for consumption. Of course, not all the live stock 
of this country is on farms or ranches. There are 
almost 400,000 sheep not kept on farms or ranches, 
and about 2,000,000 head of cattle in the villages, 
towns, and cities throughout the United States. 



230 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Demand for foreign meats. Although we raise 
and export a great amount of meat, there is a 




Eugene J. Hall 

A few of the sixty-eight million swine on the farms in the United 
Stales. Although we raise our entire supply of fresh pork, 
we import many m ill ion pounds of smoked hams 
and other specially prepared meats 

constant and growing demand for certain foreign 
prepared meats. We import more than 200,000,000 
pounds of dressed meat a year. To get a clear 
idea of these imported meats you have only to visit 
a well-stocked delicatessen store and look at the 
smoked hams and other specially prepared meats, 
contributed to our tables by the nations of the Old 
World. 

The Argentine stands third in the production of 
cattle, second in the production of sheep, and second 
in the exportation of meat. While this country 
consumes only about one twenty-fifth as much meat 



THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 231 

as the United States, its population is so small that 
its per capita consumption stands high in the list, the 
average consumption there being about 250 pounds 
per person a year. From the harbor of Buenos 
Aires, its capital, largest city and chief port, thou- 
sands of boats are engaged in carrying meats to all 
parts of the world. More than 1,000,000,000 pounds 
of meat is exported from this city in a single year. 
This includes a great quantity of frozen mutton 
sent to Europe, especially to the United Kingdom. 

Stock raising in the Argentine. On the broad, 
grassy pampas of the Argentine, 29,500,000 cattle 
and 80,000,000 sheep are being raised to feed the 
people of many countries. The ranches of the 
Argentine are raising cattle and sheep, not only for 
their own use, but for those countries which are not 
able to produce enough meat to meet the needs of 
their own inhabitants. But the live-stock industry 
of the Argentine is not limited to cattle and sheep. 
It is estimated that the country has 3,500,000 hogs. 

Australia as a meat-producing center. The only 
country which raises more sheep than the Argen- 
tine is Australia. There are more than 85,000,000 
sheep in Australia, and its neighbor, New Zealand, 
has 24,000,000. The grassy steppes of Eastern and 
Southeastern Australia furnish pasturage for many 
million sheep and cattle. Here the government 
leases sheep ranges to the ranchers. Although 
Australia is about the size of the United States, 
there is a large area covered with mountains and 
deserts too barren and unproductive to furnish 
profitable pasturage. 

Because of the great numbers of sheep and cattle 
raised in Australia, the diet of its people is chiefly 



232 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



meat. Australians eat more meat per person than 
do any other people. Their average consumption 
is 262 pounds a year, with the Argentine a close 
second. The people of New Zealand rank next as 
meat eaters, with an average consumption of 212 




Brown Bros. 

An Australian sheep ranch. There are more than eighty-Jive million 

sheep in Australia, and because of the great number of sheep 

and cattle raised the Australians eat more meat 

per person than do any other people 

pounds a year each. Next comes the United States, 
where the average consumption is 170 pounds of 
meat a year for each man, woman, and child. 

Yet the people of the United States consume 
more than fifteen times as much meat a year as do 
those of Australia and we export almost three times 
as much. In one year Australia exports about 
425,000,000 pounds of meat, less than one third of 
which is mutton. 



THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 233 

From what seaport do you think the greater part 
of the Australian meat is shipped? Find the eastern 
steppes of Australia and then you can tell. 

Stock raising in Germany. Germany is the fifth 
largest cattle-raising country in the world. Before 
the opening of the great European war the estimated 
number of cattle within its borders was more than 
20,000,000. In normal times Germany usually has 
more than 5,500,000 sheep and about 25,500,000 
hogs, being surpassed in the production of swine 
only by the United States. But being the second 
largest consumer of meat, using 7,500,000,000 
pounds yearly, Germany has found it necessary to 
become the second largest importer of dressed meat 
and live animals. This nation has been buying from 
other countries more than 500,000,000 pounds of 
meat and almost 350,000 cattle, sheep, and hogs 
yearly. Yet you should be reminded that Ger- 
many's meat exports are small and that the German 
people use fish to a large degree in place of meat. 
In fact, they are not large meat eaters. The nation 
is classed eighth in per capita use of meat, the aver- 
age consumption being less than 112 pounds a year 
to the person. Germany's immense population 
accounts for the fact that while her meat consump- 
tion is exceeded in volume by that of only one 
nation, her per capita use of meat is low. 

How England is fed. We are told that if the 
people of England could not get food from other 
nations, they would starve within six months. This, 
of course, is because the country is so thickly popu- 
lated that the soil cannot produce food enough to 
feed the inhabitants. So England, being dependent 
upon other countries for her food supply, is naturally 



234 THE STORY OF FOODS 

the largest importer of foods of all kinds. The only 
food of which England has a sufficient supply is 
fish. But if her people were forced to live entirely 
on fish, supposing that were possible, they would 
soon learn that the waters about them could not 
meet the demand made upon them. 

The United Kingdom consumes in one year about 
5,175,000,000 pounds of beef, mutton, and pork. 
The United States, Germany, and Russia are, in 
fact, the only countries eating more meat than the 
United Kingdom. The latter stands seventh among 
the nations of the world in per capita consumption 
of meat, its average being 119 pounds to the person. 

But England has colonies that produce great quan- 
tities of meat and other food supplies for her. Of the 
2,985,000,000 pounds of meat imported by the United 
Kingdom in one year, many million pounds came from 
its colonies,especially from Australia and New Zealand. 
South Africa, Canada, and even India also contribute 
largely. But the 2,985,000,000 pounds of meat im- 
ported in one year is not all the meat the United King- 
dom has had to buy from other countries. To this 
must be added about 64,000 live cattle and sheep. 

Meat supply and increase of population. There 
was a time when the European countries, which 
are now importing billions of pounds of meat each 
year, were raising more meat than they really 
needed, just as our western plains once grazed many 
more cattle than we needed for our own consumption. 
But as the population of a country increases, the 
land as a matter of course is divided into smaller 
units. Then open ranges and ranches become 
cultivated farms devoted to field crops and to garden- 
ing. Villages replace the farms and gardens and the 



THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 



235 



villages in turn grow into towns and cities. So the 
cattle or sheep range of to-day is the farm of to- 
morrow and the city of another year. That is why, 




Copyright by Huffman, Miles City, Mont. 

Sheep on a range in Montana. The rapidly increasing population 

of the United States has transformed most of the great sheep 

and cattle ranges into cultivated farms, villages, 

towns, and cities 

within a short time, Russia and the Argentine will 
be selling much meat to the countries that now look 
largely to the United States for their supply. But 
the United States is capable of producing a great 
deal more meat than she now turns out, so it will 
probably be a long time before we are forced to 
look to other countries for our own supply. 

In certain European countries the flesh of the horse 
is eaten. Germany, for instance, in one year ate more 
than 120,000,000 pounds of meat other than beef, 
pork, and mutton. This included game, of course, but 
in European countries game is not abundant enough 
to make much difference in the total meat supply. 



236 THE STORY OF FOODS 

How Nature affects cattle raising. If we were to 
take a geography and attempt to determine where 




Range cattle in Western Canada, a part of the world highly 
favorable for the production of live stock 

most of the world's cattle are now raised, and where 
they are likely to be raised in a few years, we would 
find several important things to be considered. 
First, there is population. It is practically impos- 
sible for a densely populated country like England 
to raise enough cattle to feed its own people, although 
the number of cattle to the square mile in such a 
country may be large. England has about 667 
persons to the square mile and 10.4 cattle. The 
Argentine has about 7 persons and 27 cattle to the 
square mile. In the United States there are about 
33 people and 20 cattle to the square mile. Second, 
the physical features of the countries have much to 
do with the raising of live stock. For instance, stock 
cannot be raised in the deserts of Africa as it can 
upon the rich and fertile prairies of the United States 
or on the grassy pampas of the Argentine. 

Third, there are countries where the climate 
makes it practically impossible to graze cattle, sheep, 



THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 237 

or swine. In Northern Canada and Northern 
Siberia, the intense cold makes the raising of these 
animals impossible. Also, there are countries where 
it is too hot and too wet to raise live stock, and 
where insect pests are a standing peril. Fourth, 
there is vegetation. In the hot, damp countries 
swamps and jungles abound which offer practically 
no pasturage to the domestic animals of our plains. 
In the Far North grow grasses and moss that will 
sustain reindeer but not cattle. In certain parts 
of the Sahara vegetation occurs which will nourish 
the camel, but on which our stock could not live. 
So we find that there are parts of the world highly 
favored by nature for the production of live stock. 
It is to these countries that the world is now looking 
for its supply of meat. Suppose you make a list of 
ten countries which are especially well supplied in 
this respect and then learn how many people there 
are to the square mile in those countries. 



Chapter XIV 

VEGETABLE OILS 

An important food element. Oils and fats form 
one of the most important parts of our food. Many 
of these, such as butter and fat meats, are obtained 
from animals, but many others come from vegetable 
products. These last, because less expensive than 
animal fats and oils, are becoming more and more 
important as a part of our daily diet. 

Chief among the fruits and seeds that yield 
edible oils are olives, peanuts and other nuts, corn, 
and the soy bean. 

Olive oil. There are a great many varieties of 
olives. Those used for the purpose of making olive 
oil are produced chiefly in Italy, France, Spain, and 
California. 

If your father's apple or pear trees were to bear 
only every second year he would be greatly disap- 
pointed. Yet this is all that the growers of the 
olive can expect. The fruit comes but once every 
two years. The tree flowers in the spring and the 
fruit appears toward the end of July. The olive 
is green until it attains full size. Then as it ripens 
it gradually turns from green to yellow, and by 
November, when the harvest begins, it is a rich 
purplish brown. The picking lasts until spring, 
although the best oil is said to be secured from the 
olives gathered in January and February. 

After being picked, the olives, in order to make 
the fruit give up its oil more readily, are spread out 
and slightly heated for about twenty hours. Next 

238 



VEGETABLE OILS 



239 



they are ground into a pasty mass which is sub- 
jected to heavy pressure until all the oil is extracted. 





An ancient olive press in Spain. This old stone press, which 

dates from the time of the Romans, is still used to 

crush olives for making oil 

The use of olive oil as a food is rapidly increasing 
in this country. It is over thirty times as nourishing 
as beef soup and twenty times as nourishing as milk. 
It is generally superior to lard or butter for cooking 
purposes and it is less expensive. 

Most of the olive oil imported into this country 
comes in large casks or hogsheads and is put into 
cans and bottles after it reaches the United States. 
There are also many gallons imported each year in 
bottles and cans. Some of the largest wholesale 
grocery houses and other importers have the oil 
bottled in France and Italy and Spain especially for 
their use and under the supervision of their agents. 
In a normal year Italy sends us 4,000,000 gallons, 



240 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



France nearly 1,000,000 gallons, and Spain about 
350,000 gallons. California alone makes more than 




Copyright by the Detroit Publishing Co. 

Hauling cotton seed to the railway station. Cotton seed, which until 
recent years ivas practically a waste, now makes the cotton 
plant a valued food producer as well as an impor- 
tant factor in the clothing of mankind 

200,000 gallons and is making more each year. 
The finer grades of California olive oil are noted for 
their flavor and purity. 

Cottonseed oil. Less than a hundred years ago 
the cotton growers of the world found it difficult 
to dispose of the seed cleaned from the "lint" or 
cotton. Until recent years the seed of the cotton 
plant was practically sheer waste. But to-day the 
oil pressed from the seeds of the average American 
cotton crop is an important addition to the food 
resources of our country, being valued at about 
$100,000,000. 

Thus many million dollars each year are snatched 
from the waste heap and turned into the pockets of 
the growers and handlers of our cotton crop. But 



VEGETABLE OILS 



241 



the fact that the cotton plant, which has for centuries 
done so large a share of the work of furnishing the 
clothing for mankind, has added to its usefulness by 
joining the ranks of the food producers is possibly 
still more important. 

The contribution of the cotton plant to our food 
resources is not, however, confined to the wholesome 
oil taken from the seed and directly consumed by 
man. The pulp from which the oil has been pressed 
has become one of the staple foods for the fattening 
of live stock, especially in the South, and millions 
of tons, in the form of cottonseed cake and meal, 



Cotton Plant 



Cljth Coinage 



Smokeless pAwder 



<{>wd 



Cotton batting 



Artificial silk 



Stjlk 




Data from Census, 1906, and Tootbaker 
From "Commercial Geography" by E. V. Robinson 

Industrial uses of the cotton plant 

are used for this purpose each year. Great quan- 
tities of this by-product are also used in the 
manufacture of fertilizers for the feeding of crops. 
Making cottonseed oil. In expressing or extract- 
ing cottonseed oil, the seeds are thoroughly cleaned, 



16 



242 THE STORY OF FOODS 

then crushed in machines resembling those in sugar- 
cane mills. This pulp is then put into woolen press 
bags and subjected to strong pressure. After the 
oil has been extracted, that which is left is called 
cottonseed cake. 

The oil from the presses is pumped into large 
tanks, from which it is either sold in the crude state 
or passed on to the refiner. In the refinery, caustic 
soda is added at a temperature of from 110° to 
120° F., with the result that the undesirable fatty 
acids are neutralized and drop to the bottom of the 
mixture. The oil is then washed free of this sub- 
stance and allowed to clarify. It comes out of the 
clarifier a beautiful lemon yellow. 

Cottonseed oil is used in the packing of sardines 
and other products; as a substitute for olive oil in 
cooking; and in combination with olive oil for 
salad dressings. It is also used as a lubricant 
for machinery. 

The fatty acid portion, or cottonseed " stearin/' 
is employed in the manufacture of compounded 
lard, the lower grades being manufactured into soap. 
The seed yields a maximum of about 35 per cent oil. 

Cottonseed oil exports and imports. Cotton is 
grown mainly in the United States, Egypt, India, 
and South America. Cotton seed is exported from all 
these countries to Europe, where it is made into oil. 

According to United States government figures, 
in a single year this country exported 47,457,000 
gallons of cottonseed oil; in the same year the 
United Kingdom exported 6,099,000 gallons and 
Belgium exported 1,341,000 gallons. But in the 
same year the United Kingdom imported 7,587,000 
gallons and Belgium imported 2,876,000 gallons. 



VEGETABLE OILS 243 

This means that the United Kingdom and Belgium 
raise no cotton but simply act as refiners of cotton- 
seed oil. 

The largest consumers of the oil are Germany, 
Italy, and France. In one year Germany imported 
7,900,000 gallons, Italy 5,388,000 gallons, and 
France 3,697,000 gallons. Of these three countries, 
France was the only one to export any considerable 
amount of cottonseed oil, sending 172,000 gallons 
abroad. 

Nut oils. A wide variety of nuts are important 
as the source of large quantities of oils. The oil 
pressed from the raw peanut ranks commercially 
with cottonseed and olive oils. It is used in making 
oleomargarine, and to take the place of butter and 
lard in cooking. It is also valuable in the packing 
of olives and sardines. Large quantities of oils 
from the almond, the coconut, and the walnut are 
used in cooking and confectionery, chiefly as flavor- 
ing. Other nut oils are those secured from beech 
nuts, Brazil nuts, ground nuts, and hazel nuts. 

We used to import most of our peanut oil from 
France and Germany, where great quantities of 
African peanuts are pressed for oil each year. But 
in late years American peanut growers have learned 
the value of peanut oil and we are now producing 
large quantities of it. A bushel of peanuts weigh- 
ing thirty pounds will yield about a gallon of oil. 
While the African peanut in the amount of oil it 
contains is richer than our southern nut, yet 
American peanut growers are finding the cultiva- 
tion of peanuts for oil a profitable business. The 
production is now about 40,000,000 bushels a year 
but this does not supply the demand. 



244 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Corn oil. Corn oil, an increasingly important 
item in our food supply, is made from the germ of 
the Indian corn kernel. In the making of corn 
products, starch, sirup, sugar, and gluten, the germ, 
which contains a large proportion of oil, is separated 
from the remainder of the grain. These germs are 
dried, ground, and then pressed to secure the oil. 

By refining and filtering, a valuable oil is produced, 
useful as shortening for bread and pastry, for frying 
and cooking, and as a salad oil. The unrefined oil 
is used in the manufacture of soap, lubricating oil, 
and a substance that can be used as a substitute 
for rubber. 

In the United States we make about 75,000,000 
pounds of corn oil and 90,000,000 pounds of corn-oil 
cake a year. The corn-oil cake, which is made from 
the substance that remains after the oil has been 
pressed from the germ, is a valuable food for fatten- 
ing live stock. 

Bean oil. An important source of oil that has 
come into notice in recent years is the soy bean, 
a product originally grown in Eastern countries, 
especially in Japan, China, and Chosen. The plant 
is an annual, growing chiefly in bush form with a 
tendency to climb. It bears pods containing from 
two to five beans. The beans vary in color, but are 
chiefly yellow, green, and black. The plant is 
raised successfully in the United States, in North 
Carolina, Tennessee, and other southern states, 
where it is grown with corn. Besides being of 
great value as forage, the plant resembles peas, 
beans, and alfalfa in its nitrogen-storing properties 
and hence is valuable as a soil improver. 

Soy bean oil is imported from China, Japan, and 



VEGETABLE OILS 



245 



India. Its value as a substitute for lard in cooking 
and as an ingredient in the manufacture of salad oil 




Soy bean oil awaiting shipment at a Manchurian port. Soy bean 

oil plays an important part in the food supply of 

both Chinese and Japanese 

and oleomargarine is being recognized more and 
more. The plant is marvelously prolific and the 
oil so valuable that agricultural and commercial 
circles in the United States are now devoting increas- 
ing attention to the cultivation of the plant. The oil 
cake that remains after the oil has been pressed from 
the bean has proved a valuable food for dairy cattle. 
The use of bean oil in the United States and Europe 
in the manufacture of oleomargarine and salad oil 
is steadily increasing. The oil is extracted in much 
the same way as olive oil. The beans are crushed, 
heated slightly, and then subjected to steam pres- 
sure. Soy bean oil, in various degrees of refinement, 
can be put to the same uses that other vegetable 
oils are put. It may be used as a lubricant, as an 



246 THE STORY OF FOODS 

illuminating oil, in the manufacture of soap, and in 
making a substitute for rubber. 

In Eastern countries the beans themselves are an 
important food resource. They are eaten boiled 
with meat. They are made into a meal which is used 
in bread making. A sauce known as shoyu or soy 
sauce is made by boiling the beans with an equal 
quantity of barley, then allowing the mass to fer- 
ment, after which it is salted and strained. This 
product is an important ingredient of certain popular 
meat sauces. 



Chapter XV 

FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 

Perils of the sea fishermen. Romance, mystery, 
and adventure hang as thick as a Newfoundland 
fog over the whole fishing industry. It is not too 
much to say that probably more perils attend the 
work of taking the fish from the seas and the great 
inland lakes than surround any other food harvest. 

The loss of life in this calling is large. Hardly a 
season passes that does not show the sacrifice of 
several ships with their brave crews. Often whole 
fleets are swept away by the fury of a single storm. 
Adventure follows close in the wake of every fishing 
smack that puts out to sea, and there is scarcely a 
seasoned fisherman in any crew who has not had 
many thrilling escapes from death and suffered 
severe hardships from exposure. 

In fact, the everyday life of the fisherman, even 
in fair weather, would seem to the landsman 
decidedly hard, for the wind which to him would 
be a furious gale is held by the crew of a fishing 
smack to be only "brisk." Even though peril, 
exposure, and narrow escapes are taken by the 
fisher folk as "all in the day's work," it seems 
only fair to recall all this when a delicious piece of 
cod, mackerel, herring, or halibut is placed on your 
plate at the family table. You may say to yourself, 
as you eat a bit of such a fish: 

"No doubt there is a story of adventure — a good 
one, too — behind this fish. Did it come from 
American waters, or was it caught somewhere off 

247 



248 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



the coast of Europe, or did some brown or yellow 
man take it from the teeming waters of the Pacific? " 




The salmon catch is taken immediately to the canneries which are 

always built at the water's edge to save loss of 

time in transportation 

Wherever it was, the men who braved the deep 
sea waters to get it knew the wild fury of storms so 
terrible as to test the courage of the most heroic. 

Some of the most stirring and powerful stories 
in all literature deal with the dangers of the fisher- 
man's life. Among sea tales that depict their perils 
and hardships with wonderful vividness is Kipling's 
Captains Courageous, 



FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 249 

Fishing an inherited calling. Many boys along 
the North Atlantic coast, in New England, Nova 
Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labra- 
dor, are eagerly awaiting the time when they will 
be allowed to make their first trip with the fishing 
fleet. The very dangers of this life make it all the 
more alluring to the lad who has inherited from a long 
line of fishermen a generous share of courage, ambi- 
tion, and pride in the calling, coupled with a love 
of the sea. He is not easily turned from following 
in the wake of his hardy forefathers, who have made 
the family name, locally at least, famous by their 
skill and daring. 

Among the fisher folk of Holland, Norway, 
Sweden, Scotland, England, and Ireland, it is more 
than probable that the son of a fisherman will spend 
his life on the waters where herring and mackerel 
swarm. For the boys of these Old World nations 
are not so free to pick and choose their life work as 
are American lads. The son usually follows the 
calling of his father with little thought that anything 
else might be more to his liking. Certainly there is 
always a strong likelihood that any normal boy who 
has heard from father, grandfather, or uncle the 
stories of great catches, of clever seamanship, of 
wild storms, and of plucky escapes from perils of 
every sort, will be tempted to follow this exciting 
calling. 

Often the only tangible property a fisherman 
can leave to his family are the tools of his trade 
— the fishing boat, the nets, lines, and hooks with 
which he has earned a livelihood, and in which the 
surplus of a thrifty lifetime has been invested. It 
is only natural then, when the father dies or grows 



250 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



too old to work, that the family should look to the 
son to take up the business and make the most of it. 




From the Agricultural Yearbook 

Frozen halibut in a Pacific coast plant which freezes three and 
a half million pounds offish each year 

So whenever you eat a piece of herring, or mack- 
erel, or cod, it may add something to its flavor if 
you will stop and think that the son of the man who 
hauled that particular fish from the sea is anxiously 
awaiting the time when he can go out and follow the 
calling of his father, just as you expect, perhaps, 
to become a storekeeper, a railroad man, a farmer, 
or a lawyer. If you could talk with the lad in the 
Labrador fisher's hut, the sturdy Dutch boy whose 
thatched cabin stands just inside the Holland dykes, 
the Norwegian, the Scotch, or the Irish boy whose 
father has always put out to sea when the herring 
were due, you would probably be surprised to learn 
that he looks with pity upon any boy who is to follow 



FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 



251 



a less splendid and exciting life than that of the 
fisherman. 

Food for rich and poor. Fish is the poor man's 
meat and the rich man's delicacy. In many locali- 
ties it is the cheapest flesh food sold; on the other 
hand, many of the most costly delicacies served at 
the tables of the wealthy are taken from the world's 
waters. For example, good frozen fish is delivered 
at the doors of settlers in the Northwest at a cost 
of three or four cents a pound, while in the larger 
cities, to which the chief supply is sent, brook 
trout may seldom be had for less than a dollar a 
pound, frequently being retailed for two dollars. 

In the districts close to the seas, lakes, and streams 



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Brown Bios. 

A &«# boat on the Atlantic coast. An offshore fisherman 
buying bait for the day's fishing 

which abound in fish, this food is the chief meat diet 
of the poor. Thousands of families in such localities 



252 THE STORY OF FOODS 

consider any other kind of meat a luxury to be 
tasted only a few times a year. 

Protein at a bargain. To those who have meat 
on their tables every day, the cheapness of fish means 
little. But in homes where the cost of fresh meat 
is beyond the reach of the family purse, except on 
holidays, this food, freely given up by the waters, 
means health and happiness. Without it thousands 
of men, women, and children would be badly nour- 
ished. They would not have the strength to do the 
hard, rough work which falls to their lot, and their 
chances of bettering their condition would be gone. 
The nourishing power of fresh fish is from 2 to 4 per 
cent less than that of meat. But as fish is much 
cheaper than meat, fish is the real " bargain" when 
the amount of actual nourishment which one may buy 
for ten cents is considered. In writing on the subject 
an eminent Canadian authority has this to say: 

" Market cod can usually be obtained, in Ottawa, 
for 8 cents per pound, or less. It contains 11.1 per 
cent protein, so that one pound of protein would 
cost slightly more than 72 cents. Beefsteak con- 
tains nearly 15 per cent protein and would be 
considered moderate in price at 20 cents per pound. 
At this price one pound of protein would cost $1.33. 
Fresh haddock contains 8 per cent protein and 
usually sells in Ottawa for 8 cents per pound. One 
pound of protein purchased in the form of haddock 
would thus cost $1.00, and in halibut selling at 
16 cents per pound, $1,045, whereas one pound of 
protein purchased in the way of mutton chops at 
20 cents per pound would cost $1.54." 

Relative cost of meat and fish. In England, Ger- 
many, and almost all European countries, not nearly 



FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 253 

enough meat-producing animals are raised to supply 
the people, and meat must be imported from coun- 
tries where cattle, sheep, and hogs can be grown 
cheaply. r This fact makes the meat expensive. 
On the other hand, these countries are close to the 
seas which abound with fish free for the taking. 
Let us see what this means to the poorer people 
of these lands. 

At a time when beef was selling in Berlin for 16.5 
to 19 cents a pound, fresh mackerel could be bought 
there for from .8 to 1.1 cents a pound, whiting for 1.4 
to 1.6 cents, and cod for 1.7 to 4.9 cents per pound. 

Now consider canned salmon, which may be 
bought anywhere. Here is what the Bureau of 
Fisheries of our own government has to say about 
the food value of this fish: 

"One pound of canned red salmon of the best 
quality will cost about 16 cents. (The prices are 
the average retail prices in Washington, D. C, 
February 10, 1914.) The same quantity of bone-, 
muscle-, blood-, and brain-building material and 
body fuel in other foods would cost: 

Eggs, strictly fresh (at 34 cents per dozen) .... 36 cents 

Steak, sirloin (at 27.5 cents per pound) 33 cents 

Mutton, leg (at 19 cents per pound) 32 cents 

Chicken, average (at 25 cents per pound) 21.5 cents 

Ham, smoked (at 18.5 cents per pound) 13.5 cents 

Pink salmon, canned (at 9 cents per can) 12.5 cents 

"The best grades of canned salmon are richer 
than meats in body-building materials and contain 
about the same amount of fats. Pink salmon, 
which is a cheaper grade, is better than meats for 
making flesh and bone, but has less fat. Either is as 
digestible as the best sirloin steak, there is no waste, 
and nothing has to be thrown away except the can." 



254 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The fact that the prices of meats have changed 
greatly from these figures makes little difference, 
for it has been found that, as a rule, fish prices change 
with those of meats and that usually there is about 
the same difference between them. In other words, 
fish, which is almost as nourishing as meat — in some 
cases more so — is almost always cheaper than meat. 

Realizing the importance of the fishing industry. 
It is difficult for a boy or girl living inland to form 




Drying nets at Jackfish, Ontario, an important fishing town 
on Lake Superior 

any true idea of the bigness and the importance of 
the fishing industry. The only way to get such a 
realization is to visit a great fish market or to watch 
the unloading of a boat just returned from a fishing 
cruise. When you read that the fishermen of Great 
Britain catch almost 3,000,000,000 pounds of this 
rich and delicious food a year, and that the value 
of this great catch is from $65,000,000 to $75,000,- 
000, it doesn't mean much to you. But if you 
could spend one hour in one of the great fish 



FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 255 

markets in any large city near the sea and look 
upon a tiny fraction of the total catch, you would 
understand that fish is not a trifling sort of food 
to be tasted at a course dinner or to be eaten on 
Fridays only. 

After such a sight you would always spell "fish" 
with a big capital. Also you would be very thankful 
that the sea, the lakes, and the rivers of the earth 
are stocked by Nature with a supply of food so 
generous that the poorest may have it on their 
tables when beef, pork, mutton, and other meats 
are beyond the reach of their slender means. 

Still another cause for thankfulness is the fact 
that the fish are widely distributed throughout the 
waters of the world. Of course there are many 
lakes and rivers in thickly settled regions that have 
been "fished out." But the seas, the large inland 
lakes, and the rivers still abound with millions upon 
millions of fish. 

It is a mistake to think that because fisheries are 
free, there is no expense connected with the capture 
of the fish. The actual cost of operating a fishing 
schooner is considerable and losses of many kinds 
often occur. All this must be taken into con- 
sideration in the price the fishermen ask for their 
catch. 

A city fish market. If you are fortunate enough 
to live where you can visit a retail market that sells 
only fish and sea foods, by all means do so. It will 
give you a graphic view of the geography of the 
world's waters, so far as the food that they furnish 
is concerned. To make sure that you understand 
what you see it would be a good plan to invite your 
teacher to go with you. Such a trip, especially to 



256 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



a large market in a big city, will be one of the most 
delightful outings you could possibly plan. 

What was seen on a recent visit to a fish market 
in Chicago may give you a good idea of what an 
interesting affair such an exploring party may prove 
to be. Every day this special market receives ship- 
ments of fresh fish from all parts of the country, 
and the counters and tables are so arranged that the 




Packing sea foods for shipment to city markets and inland towns 

fish may be displayed to the best advantage. The 
tops of these display tables are great trays, kept 
half filled with chipped ice. On these were placed 
multitudes of fish, each fish occupying sufficient 
space to enable the buyer to examine it carefully. 
Above the counters were signs indicating from what 
place the particular fish then on display came. One 
of these signs read " Pacific Delicacies," and on the 
table were beautiful salmon fresh and frozen, or 
a dozen or more of the giant Pacific coast crabs, a 



FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 257 

shipment of delicate little sandabs from San Fran- 
cisco, and a number of beautiful trout from the 
Puget Sound country. These happened to be the 
special features for the day. 

On another table carrying a placard which read 
" Fresh Water Fish," were dozens of pike, pickerel, 
black bass, muskellunge, trout, perch, sunfish, eel, 
carp, and cisco. There were a dozen or more 
white-aproned clerks busily waiting on a host of 
eager buyers. When asked from where all those 
fish came, one of them said, "Some came from the 
many fresh-water lakes of the Northwest, some 
from central New York, and some were taken from 
the waters of the Rocky Mountains." 

Over still another counter hung a sign which read 
"Sea Food from the Atlantic Coast." Here were 
found cod, herring, haddock, halibut, sea trout, shad, 
lobsters, sea bass, flounder — a queer flat fish with 
its two eyes on one side of its head — and a bewilder- 
ing array of other interesting fish. 

Among these were red fish, trout, sheepshead, pom- 
pano, shrimp, red snapper, and sea turtles from the 
South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, each beauti- 
ful in its way. On other tables were butterfish, 
bluefish, striped bass, crappies, scallops, bloaters, 
crabs, periwinkles, frog legs, oysters, and clams. 

Edible seaweed. But fish and shellfish were not 
the only foods that make this store attractive, for 
there were on display various seaweeds such as 
dulse, kanten, kelp, laver, and carragheen. 

Dulse is an edible seaweed found on the North 
Atlantic coast. It is dried in the sun and eaten 
uncooked as a relish, or boiled in milk and served as 
a vegetable or eaten with fish. Kelp is another 

17 



258 THE STORY OF FOODS 

seaweed found on both the North Pacific and North 
Atlantic coasts. It is also known as bladder weed, 
or giant bladder weed. It sometimes has leaves forty 
feet in length. Kelp is used in making the Japanese 
soup called "kombu." Laver is a seaweed found 
on both coasts. In Scotland and Ireland it is called 
"sloak" or "slook." It is boiled and served with 
butter, pepper, and vinegar, and by those who like 
it is considered a great delicacy. 

Kanten, a curious Japanese food, is a kind of 
gelatine. Great quantities of this gelatine are made 
from the gelidium family of seaweed. It is white, 
transparent, and has neither taste nor odor. In 
Japan it is used not only in making jellies and 
soups, but in clarifying sake or rice spirit. Two or 
three million pounds of it are exported to this coun- 
try every year for thickening jams, jellies, ice creams, 
and other table delicacies. Gelidium seaweed grows 
largely on the Pacific coast of the United States. 

Carrageen, or Irish moss, as this well-known 
seaweed is more commonly called, owes its name 
to a town on the coast of Ireland. But most of 
that found in our markets is from the shores of 
New Hampshire and Massachusetts. While carra- 
geen is used in various ways, a large part of the 
product is utilized in making blanc mange and jellies. 

Remember that all these foods were in stock at 
one time in one retail store, so you see the lover 
of fish may have a different kind every da> foi 
months if he wishes. 

In addition to the fresh fish, this store carries all 
kinds of imported fish in cans, pickled, and in brine. 
Every week it sells thousands of dollars' worth of 
fish, and its sales are constantly increasing. 



Chapter XVI 

FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 

Fresh- and salt-water fish. The people of the 
United States consume many thousand pounds of 
imported fish each year, in addition to great quan- 
tities of domestic fish from both salt and fresh waters. 
Our imports cover a wide range, from the bundles 
of dried stockfish from Norway to the tiny bottles of 
pepper-stuffed anchovies from France, and the tubes 
of sardellen or anchovy paste from Germany. 

In the fish market of a large department store 
the writer saw a man make four purchases which 
instantly brought to mind pictures of the remote 
parts of the world from which they had come. 
One pound of smoked halibut came from the icy 
waters of Alaska; a bottle of French anchovies, 
from the sunny Mediterranean; a dried herring, 
from the picturesque fiords of Norway; and some 
California crabs, from the Pacific coast. 

A second customer bought some spiced herring 
from a cask. This herring came from Holland, 
although it had been spiced in this country. Its 
home had been the North Sea. 

Herring and where we get it. Herring is an 
important fish. In a single year we imported 
more than 76,000,000 pounds at a cost of more 
than $3,000,000. We bought 36 per cent of this 
from Scotland, 26 per cent from the Nether- 
lands, 14.5 per cent from Norway, 10.5 per cent 
from Canada, 9 per cent from England, and 4 per 
cent from Asia. Besides what we import, many 

259 



260 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



million pounds of herring are caught by our own 
fishermen off the coasts of Newfoundland. Some 




Landing place of a fishing village on ike fiord coast of Norway. 
The Norwegian fisheries are especially valuable 

of our more daring fishermen sail their boats far 
north into the cold waters about Iceland and fish 
alongside the Scotchmen, the Scandinavians, and 
the Dutch. Many dangers are braved in those 
waters, and little John, in his Maine home, may be 
looking anxiously seaward for the return of his 
father, whose boat is perhaps within hailing distance 
of that which carries the father of little Olaf in 
Norway. 

The Norwegians take steamers to Iceland, where 
they catch and pack fish. These fish usually are 
taken back to Norway, whence they are shipped 
all over the world. But one time when some Nor- 
wegians, who were fishing in Iceland waters, were 
anxious to get flour, they loaded thirty-four hundred 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 261 

barrels of herring and some wool on the steamer 
"Hermod" and shipped it direct to New York, 
where the arrival of the fishing vessel created no 
little excitement. At New York the boat was re- 
loaded with flour and immediately sailed for home. 

Marketing herrings. Herrings are sold in many 
ways — fresh, salted, pickled, canned, and smoked. 
The Great Lakes abound in a whitensh known 
commercially as fresh-water herring. These great 
lakes yield annually about 150,000 half barrels of 
herring, most of which are salted. There are many 
salting plants on the lakes, especially along the 
Lake Superior coast. Duluth is the chief shipping 
point for these fish. After being dressed and 
" boned" the herring is from five to twelve inches 
long and is packed in ten-pound boxes. Herring 
roe — or a mass of fish eggs — is also packed in 
America. It is taken from herring caught in 
Chesapeake Bay and in the mouths of rivers in 
Virginia and the Carolinas. Roe is usually sold 
in two-pound tins. 

Newfoundland bloaters. Bloaters are smoked 
herring. The fish are caught largely off Newfound- 
land and Nova Scotia. The fishing vessels go there 
in November, the best herring being found from 
October to March. The catch is dumped into 
the hold of the vessel and covered with salt. The 
vessels are then brought to Gloucester, Massachu- 
setts, where their cargo is washed in warm water. 
This removes the dirt and salt from the outside 
of the fish and also extracts a good deal of the salt 
from the flesh itself. The herring are then smoked 
and packed in boxes. The boxes are of two sizes, 
one containing fifty fish, the other one hundred. 



262 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The best grade of bloaters is selected from the 
top of the cargo and from herring carried in barrels 




Brown Bros. 

A familiar scene at Gloucester, Massachusetts. Here are thousands 

and thousands of salted codfish spread on flakes to be 

cured by the sun 

on the deck of the vessels. They are called fancy 
bloaters, and are so tagged. These are the same 
quality of herring as those packed in the hold of the 
vessel, the difference being that they are handled 
in a special way. 

Other kinds of herring. The fish market also 
offers us a delicacy known as the Bismarck herring, 
which comes from Germany. Baby herring, two 
or three inches long, are canned with wine and find 
ready sale in this country. The so-called Russian 
sardine is really a small Norwegian herring with its 
head cut off. These fish, which are sent to us from 
Germany, are put up in pails with spices and vinegar. 

In Norway there are large canneries that pack 
herring for export to this country. From there 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 263 

come the tins of herring in tomato sauce, marinaded 
herring, spiced herring, filleted herring in olive oil, 
and smoked herring, which are about the size of 
French sardines, put up in olive oil. 

It is said by one who has been long in the business 
of importing fish that 96 per cent of the herring 
imported from Norway and Holland is eaten pickled, 
and is not cooked. 

Catching and marketing tuna fish. Another 
customer at the fish market bought an article which 
will take us on a long voyage from the sea where the 
fat Iceland herring is caught. She took a twenty- 
five cent can of tuna, or " chicken of the sea," 
as it is called. It is also known as "the aristocrat 
of the ocean. ' ' Tuna is found only in the mild waters 
of the Pacific, off the coast of southern California. 
The island city of Avalon, Catalina Island, Cali- 
fornia, is famed for its tuna fishing. The California 
leaping tuna is one of the gamest of fish. Like all 
other tuna fish, it is caught with hook and line and 
will battle for hours before it can be safely landed. 
The tunny fish, which is of the same family as the 
California tuna, is caught in the Mediterranean. 

It is the long-fin tuna, however, that furnishes us 
with a rare delicacy. These fish travel in large 
schools, live in deep water, and come to the surface 
only in mild weather. 

In the early summer, small power boats from 
California fish for tuna at from five to fifty miles 
out from shore. In this manner the larger Cali- 
fornia tuna canneries are supplied. Tuna fish 
weigh from fifteen to seventy-five pounds each and 
are very active. 

The fish are cleaned on the boats and when they 



264 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



are brought to the canneries are given a thorough 
washing with salt water. They are then cooked 
whole by steam in big steel retorts, or boilers. When 
the fish are thoroughly cooked, the skin, bones, and 
dark meat are easily separated from the white, which 
is packed in tins and again cooked. Some Italian 
and French tunny fish are packed in olive oil but 
this is sold mainly to native Italians in this country. 
Sardines. By choosing a box of French sardines 
packed in olive oil, one customer at the fish market 
drew a contribution from the warm waters of the 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

Sardine fisheries on the coast of Yezo, Japan. After the oil is pressed 
out the waste is sent to the other islands to be used as fertilizer 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 265 

Mediterranean. On the same shelf were boxes of 
Norwegian sardines packed in tomato sauce. These 
are a little fish known as "brisling." American 
sardines packed in cottonseed oil and in mustard 
dressing were also on sale at the market. These 
are a much cheaper grade of sardine, produced for 
the trade that cannot afford the more expensive 
grades. The best sardines are those packed in olive 
oil and shipped from France. Portugal also sends 
us sardines in olive oil, but these are not as popular 
as those of the French pack. 

The sardines caught by American fishermen in 
the Atlantic Ocean are found off the coast of Maine. 
In California, a large industry has been developed 
in the packing of sardines. They are packed in 
olive oil, in tomato and mustard sauce, and are also 
spiced. At first the packers called these fish 
mackerel, but the government found them to be 
really a genuine pilchard, which is the same as 
the sardine caught in Portuguese waters. Japan is 
pushing ahead in the sardine industry to a notable 
extent. 

A Brittany catch. Now open your geography, 
and on your map of Europe find Brittany in France. 
From here come the world's finest sardines. If we 
were to journey to Brittany, we should find many 
large canneries, with many men, women, and chil- 
dren busily at work preparing the sardines for our 
tables. 

The best fishing months in the Brittany waters 
are September and October. Large quantities of 
bait in the form of salted cod eggs and of other 
fish eggs mixed with flour, are thrown into the water 
about the nets in order to attract the sardines. The 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 267 

fishermen try to get their catch to the cannery as 
soon as possible so that the fish will be in fresh 
condition when delivered. Usually they are able to 
deliver them to the cannery within two or three 
hours after they are caught. 

When the fish reach the cannery their heads and 
insides are removed, and the bodies thrown into 
large vats of strong brine where they are left for an 
hour. They are next put into baskets and washed 
in fresh or salt water to remove the loose scales, 
dirt, and undissolved salt. Then they are dried, in 
the open air if possible. 

For open-air drying, the fish are arranged by 
hand, in wire baskets or trays, each holding about 
one hundred and fifty medium-sized fish, and set 
on wooden frames or racks. The fish are placed 
with their tails up, so that the water may run out. 
They are left to dry for about an hour and then 
taken, in the same baskets, to the cooking rooms. 
There they are immersed in boiling oil. They are 
allowed to cook in this oil for from two to four 
minutes, after which the oil is drained off and the 
fish are taken to the packing room. They are next 
packed in cans, the best sardines with the highest 
grade of olive oil, and then cooked again in boiling 
water. 

Sardines are also packed in other ways, but this 
one method will enable us to form an idea as to 
how these fish are prepared for market. 

Sardellen. The next customer at the fish market 
was an old gentleman, who looked as if he were 
either a foreigner or a man who had traveled widely. 
He asked for sardellen. 

What are sardellen? They are a small fish of the 



268 THE STORY OF FOODS 

herring family. They are caught in the Zuider Zee, 
spiced, and put up in Holland. Sardellen are 
very expensive. They are sold in small hardwood, 
hand-made kegs for $1.25 a keg. The kegs hold 
from one and a half to two pounds. A peculiar 
thing about the sardellen is that the longer they 
remain in the kegs the more valuable they are. 
This is probably the only packed fish that becomes 
more valuable with time. 

Sardellen are used by chefs for flavoring steaks. 
The Hollanders soak them in milk for about twenty 
minutes and then eat them uncooked in sandwiches. 

All of this teaches us that the herring family 
supplies us with many delicacies, affords work for 
many thousands of men, women, and children, and 
in some countries practically replaces meat on the 
family table. 

Mackerel from northern seas. Another cus- 
tomer at the market, a little girl, bought a pound of 
mackerel and again sent us back to the waters of 
the North. While our own fishermen catch great 
quantities of this fish off Nova Scotia, we buy many 
million pounds from other countries each year. In 
one year we imported more than 10,000,000 pounds 
of mackerel from Norway alone. We also import 
mackerel from England, Ireland, Canada, and the 
Netherlands. 

The Norwegians catch their mackerel in the 
Skager-Rak. Note on your map how far this is 
from where the Americans fish for their mackerel. 
The mackerel is a great traveler. In 1884 and 
1885 the United States produced 500,000 barrels 
of mackerel. Then the mackerel swam north- 
ward and disappeared from our waters. No one 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 269 

knew where they went. The fishermen, thrown 
out of work, scattered and some of them went 
West. At that time the mackerel were brought into 
the market fresh instead of being salted on the 
boats, as they are now. By and by the mackerel 
returned from their long northern journey, to find 
no fishermen. But gradually mackerel fishing again 
became important. 

The Norwegians claim to have the best mackerel 
because they cure them immediately, and they are 
whiter than the Scotch mackerel, which are allowed 
to remain unbled until they turn a darker color. 
But from Ireland we get a white mackerel as choice 
as the Norwegian. This is because the fishermen 
use small boats, allowing their nets to drag out 
behind them. At one end of the net is the boat 
and at the other end a buoy. The catches are made 
at night and the fish brought to shore early in the 
morning, when the women cut them up and pack 
them in salt. 

The Norwegian fishermen travel with a school of 
mackerel and as fast as they catch the fish they bleed 
and cure them right in the boats. The men in the 
boats will have as many as half a dozen lines apiece 
trailing in the water. 

There is a very fine small mackerel put up in tins 
by the French. It is a trifle larger than the ordinary 
sardine and is packed in olive oil. We also receive 
canned mackerel from Holland and Scotland. 

American mackerel. The common mackerel, 
which is a very beautiful fish, appears in enormous 
schools swimming northward off the coasts of Vir- 
ginia and Maryland. The fisherman takes his toll 
from these schools as they proceed toward colder 



270 THE STORY OF FOODS 

waters. They have been traced as far north as 
Labrador, where they have disappeared. How 
much farther north these fish go, no one knows. 

The American mackerel is caught mostly in drift or 
train nets, but single nets are also often used. Fresh 
mackerel is in season only from April to November, 
but the greater part of the catch is salted, smoked, 
and canned. Mackerel is also pickled and spiced. 
In Europe the best mackerel is caught off the coasts 
of Norway and Ireland, and in this country off the 
coast of New England. 

The Norwegian mackerel is caught with hook and 
line. The Scotch mackerel is caught with seines, 
that is, nets with buoys attached. At night the nets 
are set, the fish swim into them, and in the morning 
the hauls are made. 

Sometimes mackerel attain a length of twenty 
inches, but the mackerel of average market size is 
about twelve inches, and the average weight from 
three quarters of a pound to a pound. 

Codfish. Another patron of the market, a little 
girl with flaxen hair and big blue eyes, bought three 
pounds of lutefisk. Swedish lutefisk, vaakerfisk, 
zartfisk, winterfisk, and Italian roundfish are all 
made from stockfish, which is dry-cured codfish. 

Codfish are caught off the banks of Newfoundland 
and Nova Scotia and in the Arctic waters along the 
far northern coasts of North America and Europe. 
Cod ranges in size up to one hundred pounds. A 
common length in codfish is two and a half to three 
feet. While the greater proportion of codfish is salt- 
pickle cured, yet there is a considerable amount of 
it used fresh. It is caught with both nets and lines. 
On account of its large size and the stormy waters 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 271 



it inhabits, fishing for cod is a fascinating but a 
very dangerous occupation. 

Codfish is cured as soon as possible after catching. 
The fish are first split from head to tail and then 
cleaned of all traces of blood by repeated washings 
in salt water. After the water is drained from them 
they are placed in vats and covered with salt, where 




Brown Bros. 

Filling up the boning tables. Preparing codfish for the market 

they are left until cured. When cured they are 
washed and brushed to remove the salt and then 
put in the sun to dry. 

We import large quantities of codfish from Canada 
and the Scandinavian countries. 

From the same waters as codfish come haddock, 
hake, and pollock. 

The anchovy. One of the most interesting of all 
fish is the little anchovy, which, when put up in 
bottles, usually finds its way into wealthy homes. 



272 THE STORY OF FOODS 

The genuine anchovy is caught in the Mediterranean 
Sea and packed in France and Italy. It is a very 
small fish and is packed in olive oil and put up in 
cans and handsome ringed bottles. The Italians also 
pack anchovies in salt and put them up in large tins 
containing from one to twenty-five pounds. In 
France, anchovies stuffed with small red peppers 
are also put up in ringed bottles. The Germans 
import them to make anchovy paste, which is put 
up in tubes and shipped to all parts of the world. 
England also makes this paste and puts it in little 
stone jars. This anchovy paste is used chiefly for 
sandwiches. The ancient Greeks prepared a sauce 
from anchovies which was known as "garum." 

The fish known as the Norwegian anchovy is 
entirely different from the Mediterranean anchovy. 
The Norwegian anchovy is not an imitation of the 
Mediterranean, for it has been in use in Norway 
for many years. The original Norwegian anchovies, 
sold in pails and small barrels, were spiced "bris- 
ling/' the same product as that put up in Holland. 
Besides pickling and spicing them, the Norwegian 
canners now tin their product in olive oil, oyster, 
tomato, and wine sauce. 

Caviar. Another product, which goes with the 
anchovy into the homes of the rich, is caviar, which 
is put up in small jars or tins. Genuine caviar is 
the salted roe, or eggs, of sturgeon caught in the 
Caspian Sea. Not many years ago this product 
was made from the sturgeon caught in our own 
inland lakes. As the supply of sturgeon has become 
exhausted, some American packers have resorted 
to obtaining roe from domestic fish caught in 
the rivers and inland lakes of the South, such as 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 273 

spoonbills, buffalo fish, and catfish. But this roe 
is not large, nor has it the fine flavor of sturgeon 
roe. 

The finest quality of caviar is that from the 
beluga, the " great white sturgeon" of the Russians, 
largest of all sturgeons. This fish attains a length 
of twelve or fourteen feet and weighs more than a 




Preparing caviar. The sturgeon roe is rubbed lightly through a 

seive to remove the fine tissue enveloping the eggs. Then 

it is salted and put in tins or jars 

ton. A single ''cow" or female fish has been known 
to give three hundred and seventy pounds of roe. 
But these large fish are becoming extinct and the 
average beluga now caught is much smaller. 

Practically all Russian caviar is handled by Ger- 
man merchants, who export it to all countries. In 
1914 the supply was large and the Germans bought 
almost all of it, but throughout the European War 
its export was impossible. 

18 



274 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Lobster. The last sale observed at the fish mar- 
ket was a pound can of lobster. By many people 
the lobster is considered the most delicious of all 
sea food. Enormous quantities of lobsters are con- 
sumed in the fresh state and when used in this way 
they are usually sold alive. Lobsters are caught 
in traps known as lobster pots, and are brought to 
market alive. They are found all along the Atlantic 
coast, from Delaware to Labrador, but the coasts 
of Maine and Nova Scotia furnish the largest yield. 
Lobsters sometimes attain a weight of twenty pounds. 

Breeding the lobster. It is said that only about 
one lobster out of every 5,000 will reach maturity, 
but as the large lobsters lay as many as 40,000 
eggs at a time, it is unlikely that the family will 
become extinct. Also the government has adopted 
"sea nurseries" where artificial propagation has 
proved successful. According to the statistics of 
the United States, the lobster industry of this 
country in one year amounted to almost $2,000,000. 
The volume varies from year to year. 

A peculiar thing about a lobster is that it grows 
only during the period after it has cast its shell and 
while the new one is forming. But during this 
period its growth is marvelous. This is nature's 
way of offsetting the hard shell which envelops it, 
as that will not stretch and naturally the young 
lobster must do its growing while it can. So the 
lobster must make its growth while it is free from the 
shell or before the new shell is sufficiently hardened 
to prevent growth. 

Lobsters are continually fighting each other. 
During their combats, it is quite common for one 
of the fighters to lose a leg or a claw. This will be 



FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 275 

replaced by a new growth, which, however, will 
be smaller than the original. 

In spite of the enormous quantities of lobsters 
caught at home, we buy yearly from other countries 
— chiefly Canada — about 6,000,000 pounds of fresh 
lobster. A very small amount comes from Europe 
and Asia. 

For the benefit of the people in parts of the 
country where fresh lobster is not available, and for 
the convenience of those not wishing to cook the 
lobster themselves, many thousand cans of this 
delicacy are put up in this country every year. A 
limited amount is also imported from Europe and 
British South Africa, while large quantities are 
imported from Canada. In one year, for instance, 
Canada, besides its usual shipment of fresh lobster, 
furnished us with almost 3,000,000 pounds of the 
canned article. 

Crab meat from Japan. One cannot consider the 
lobster without mentioning its first cousin, the 
crab. Crab meat, especially that of the Japanese 
crab, is very much like lobster. When the first 
Japanese crab meat appeared on the American mar- 
ket a few years ago, it was hailed with delight. We 
now receive many thousands of pounds from the 
Japanese each year. This is packed in one-pound 
tins. Crab meat may be served in a variety of ways. 

The terrapin. You have already learned so much 
about ocean delicacies that you probably will not 
be surprised to learn that perhaps the most expensive 
meat eaten to-day — that of the terrapin — comes 
from the sea. But it will no doubt surprise you to 
learn that this meat was once considered practically 
worthless and was therefore fed to slaves and the 



276 THE STORY OF FOODS 

lowest grade of laborers. The terrapin belongs to 
the turtle family. It is a small turtle, ranging from 
three to nine inches in length, and yet a single 
one sometimes sells for eight dollars, although the 
usual price is considerably less. A peculiar thing 
about the terrapin is that only the female is con- 
sidered good to eat, the male being practically 
without value. 



Chapter XVII 

THE HANDLING OF FRESH FISH 

Summer-caught fish. Fish caught in our rivers, 
lakes, and seas that are to be sold fresh, or uncured 
or canned, are divided into two classes: summer 
caught and winter caught. Summer-caught fish are 
sometimes frozen before shipping, though the gen- 
eral practice is to put them promptly into boxes 
filled with cracked ice for shipment to the various 
markets throughout the country. They are carried 
in special fish cars designed to keep the ice in the 
boxes from melting. These cars, which are known 
as fish refrigerators, also are iced, especially if they 
are to travel a considerable distance. 

When ice-packed fish are received at the markets 
they are distributed to the various retail stores for 
sale to the public. Sometimes more ice-packed fish 
are received than can be sold immediately, and the 
surplus is sent to the cold storage plants to be frozen. 
In this condition the fish can be kept indefinitely. 

When the surplus stock of ice-packed fish is re- 
ceived at the cold storage plant, the fish are dipped 
into water and passed into a "sharp freezer," with 
a temperature of about ten degrees below zero. 
There the fish are allowed to remain until frozen stiff. 
Then they are removed to the storage rooms, which 
are also kept at a temperature below freezing. 

The small fish are placed in pans and frozen in 
quantities, whereas the larger fish, such as the hali- 
but, are frozen singly. After being frozen, the fish 
are "glazed" by being dipped into water. The 

277 



278 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



intense cold of the frozen fish causes a thin ice to 
form over them immediately, thus doubly insuring 
their preservation. The best known of the summer- 
caught fish are the salmon, halibut, pickerel, trout, 
whitefish, cisco, bass, and mackerel. 

Winter-caught fish. Then there are the winter- 
caught fish, which are frozen at the time of catching. 
In the Northern States, especially in North Dakota 
and Minnesota, the problem of handling and storing 
fresh fish is simplified by the assistance of Jack 
Frost. During the winter months peddlers cover 
the countryside selling frozen fish from their wagons. 
These peddlers often dispose of hundreds of pounds 
of pike, pickerel, perch, and bass a week, the 




Glazing small frozen fish in tanks in the freezing room of a wholesale 

fish market. The thin ice which forms on the fish when dipped 

in water makes their preservation still surer 

customers buying large supplies at a time, because 
the fish can be kept until the cold weather breaks. 



THE HANDLING OF FRESH FISH 279 

It is not unusual, for instance, for a small country 
hotel to order from three hundred to five hundred 




i— 



Brown Bros 

At a summer-caught fishing plant. Trout taken from the waters of 
the Great Lakes are being dressed for market 

pounds of fish. In a certain North Dakota town one 
peddler thus handled four cars of frozen fish in a 
single season. His supply was kept in an old wood- 
shed and peddled throughout the country. 

While winter-caught fish are secured in practi- 
cally all the lakes throughout northern Minnesota, 
yet a great percentage of them come from the 
Canadian Great Lakes: Manitoba, Winnipeg, and 
Winnipegosis. The fish consigned to the towns in 
North Dakota and Minnesota are transported in 
ordinary freight cars, but for shipping great quan- 
tities of frozen fish throughout the United States, 
the special fish refrigerator cars are used. In this 



280 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



way, frozen fish may safely be shipped even to the 
warmest states of the South and arrive in perfect 
condition. When the fish reach their destination, 
they are, of course, immediately sold or placed in 
cold storage. 

Let us imagine for an instant that we are up 
north among the Great Lakes of Canada, out on the 
ice with the fishermen. We would be sheltered 
from the driving wind by small tents and snow 
walls or even snow houses, toiling side by side with 
the French Canadians and the husky Swedes. We 




Frozen fish in a cold storage plant. Large fish not to be sold at once 
are frozen singly and in this way may be kept indefinitely 

would do our fishing almost entirely with nets, 
though great quantities of fish are caught with hook 
and line, and many are speared. 

Although it would be bitterly cold out on the ice, 



THE HANDLING OF FRESH FISH 281 

yet we would get enough exercise to keep us from 
becoming numb. For it would take all our energies 
to handle the nets, keep the ice from forming over 
the airhole through which we would fish, prevent 
the fish from becoming imbedded in the ice while 
freezing, and pack in boxes the fish already frozen. 

The local dealers would haul away great wagon- 
loads of unpacked fish, but the frozen fish would be 
shipped in large boxes to the various large cities 
in the United States. 

Then we would see these boxes loaded into large 
sleds and hauled to the nearest railway station, where 
they would be placed in refrigerator cars. If bound 
for the warm Southland, these cars would be iced at 
a northern shipping point, and their iceboxes kept 
filled with ice and salt until they arrived at their 
destination, with the fish frozen as stiff as when 
placed in the car. 

A snowfall makes it much easier to handle the fish, 
as they are allowed to freeze in the fresh, crisp snow, 
which need not be removed in packing. 

Marketing salt water fish. The principal salt- 
water fish marketed fresh are the halibut, the sal- 
mon, and the herring. A hundred-and-fifty-pound 
halibut, for instance, is caught in Alaskan waters, 
hurried to a local packing station, boxed in ice, 
and carried in a fast steamship to Seattle. There 
it is re-iced, transferred to a fish refrigerator car, 
and shipped east. 

If consigned to Chicago, this fish could be on sale 
at a retail market in that city within a week after 
it was caught, or could reach the market in any 
eastern city twenty-four hours later. 



Chapter XVIII 

THE STORY OF THE SALMON 

A common all-round food. No doubt canned 
salmon seems to the average American boy or girl 
one of the most common and uninteresting articles 
of food that could be mentioned. Its use is almost 
universal. No grocery is so small, so poorly stocked 
that it does not carry at least a small supply of 
canned salmon. If you could search the shelves of 
any cabin far away from a railroad or a store, you 
would be almost sure to find there a few cans of this 
fish laid by for an emergency. And what camping 
outfit would be complete without its supply of 
canned salmon? 

Yes, salmon is certainly common in the sense that 
it is to be found almost everywhere. But in many- 
ways it is probably the most interesting and the most 
useful fish the sea furnishes to man. You have eaten 
it scores of times without giving a thought to its real 
value to the world or to its thrilling life story. 

Now suppose salmon were suddenly cut off from 
the world's food supply; the result would be a 
calamity felt in almost every home. Literally mil- 
lions of people are fed by the salmon fisheries. 
Neither the rich nor the poor have much to eat that 
is more wholesome than this familiar food — a food 
which comes to us not in its original form but cut 
into pieces and packed in a tin can. This fish in 
its natural state is entirely unfamiliar to most of 
those who eat it. Of the millions of boy and girls 
who have become acquainted with salmon at their 

282 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 283 

own tables only a few thousand have any idea of 
how the fish really looks. 

The next time you taste this dainty pink morsel 
you will no doubt have a keener appreciation of this 
well-known food. For you will have learned some- 
thing of the life history and habits of this wonderful 
fish — something of his wanderings, his struggles, and 
his final dramatic journey taken in response to a com- 
pelling law of nature. The story will seem all the 
more vivid if we give him a name and think of him 
as an individual and not merely as one of a million 
almost exactly alike. 

Chinook, a salmon king. Chinook was a salmon 
king — a big, handsome, bright-eyed, elastic fellow, 
weighing about sixty pounds. He was king of the 
Oncorhynchus tribe and larger than any of his 
fellows — the Sockeye, the Humpback, the Coho, or 
the Chum or Dog Salmon. His tribe lives in the 
Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, and the rivers of Oregon, 
Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. He has 
a cousin in another tribe, the Salmo family. His 
cousin's common name is Steelhead and he is also 
known as the Salmon Trout. Steelhead is now 
found in other waters, having been transplanted from 
his native Pacific to the Great Lakes and northern 
rivers of America and the rivers of Europe. He is 
caught by fishermen with hook and line. 

Chinook was born far up a big river where the 
water sparkled and flashed in the sunlight and rushed 
madly over cool stones. When he was four months 
old he started to swim down the river to the ocean. 
He belonged to a numerous family — four thousand 
brothers and sisters. But now only about half of 
them were left and his parents had both perished. 



284 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The Chinook family had many enemies who de- 
stroyed the defenseless young salmon. Chinook had 




A scene on the Columbia River, one of the greatest salmon 
streams in the world 

had many narrow escapes and as he saw his brothers 
and sisters snatched away by the score, each day he 
grew more wary, more resourceful. 

When at last the family reached the salt water of 
the ocean, it had dwindled to less than five hundred. 
But now the young salmon were active swimmers 
and better able to care for themselves. 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 285 

For three years Chinook enjoyed a wild, free, 
dashing life. But in the fourth year nature called 
him to the spawning grounds and with multitudes 
of his kind he set out on his great adventure. In 
obedience to nature's law, he sought the river of 
his birth. When that was found he swam swiftly 
upstream, heeding nothing and driven by a force 
that allowed no pause. Neither he nor his com- 
panions stopped to eat, but pushed steadily forward. 
As the river narrowed and became more rapid the 
journey grew more perilous. There were many swift 
currents to fight, many jagged rocks to avoid, 
many riffles to ascend, and many little falls to leap. 
Nothing but death could stop them. At last they 
came to a high fall over which the water leaped, 
roaring wildly. 

Once, twice, three times Chinook tried to leap it, 
but each time he failed. Again and again he made 
a brave dash until at last, thrown back bruised and 
exhausted, he was too weak to try again. Just then 
he made a discovery. Up one side of the big dam 
which blocked the way he saw a "fish ladder." The 
ladder had been placed there so that the fish return- 
ing to their spawning waters might not kill them- 
selves trying to leap the dam. Up this ladder flashed 
the fish, speeding toward the little fresh-water lake 
that nestled in the tree-covered hills before them. 

On their way up, King Chinook and his brothers 
had met thousands of other pilgrims who were also 
returning to their native waters in large schools. 
Many of these fish were now swimming quietly in 
the clear, cold snow water of the lake. 

Finally Chinook chose a mate. But to keep her 
he must first fight many a fierce and bloody battle 



286 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



with other valiant warriors. When at last Chinook 
and his mate reached the spawning grounds they 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

A "fish ladder" on a salmon stream in Oregon. By such ladders, 
salmon on their way up the river are helped over jails and dams 

were both weak from the long journey and from 
fasting, for they had eaten nothing since they left 
the ocean. While his mate rested, Chinook dug a 
hollow or nest in the gravel with his snout and tail, 
adding many more wounds to those already received 
in battle. His mate placed her eggs or spawn — 
three or four thousand of them — in the nest. Now 
their task was done, for the cool running water would 
hatch the eggs without further aid from them. Then 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 287 

side by side they drifted tail foremost down the 
river until death claimed them. 

Yearly millions of salmon return and take part in 
a tragedy similar to that of Chinook and his mate, 
for all the salmon of the Oncorhynchus tribe die 
soon after spawning. 

Hatcheries increase salmon supply. When the 
salmon had only the Indians and their natural 
enemies to contend with, nature was easily able to 
maintain the supply. But the white man came, 
dammed the rivers, built irrigation ditches, and 
began to fish in ways that threatened the extinction 
of the fish. Therefore the United States govern- 
ment found it necessary to help the fish by putting 
up hatcheries where millions of young are hatched 
and protected until they are given a good start in 
life. Many salmon hatcheries have been built by 
the federal government in Alaska, California, Oregon, 
and Washington. The state governments on the 
Pacific coast are also maintaining hatcheries. These 
hatcheries have not only prevented the serious falling 
off in the number of salmon but have actually in- 
creased the supply. In Washington alone, there are 
twenty-two salmon hatcheries from which more 
than 100,000,000 young salmon are turned out 
every year. 

It requires fresh running water of an even tem- 
perature to hatch the eggs. So the hatcheries are 
usually built near the spawning grounds, and are so 
constructed and located that running water con- 
stantly flows through them. 

About four months after the eggs are taken to the 
hatcheries, the young salmon are nearly three quar- 
ters of an inch long. They are then known as 



288 THE STORY OF FOODS 

"fry" and are considered ready to be let loose. 
After they are turned out into the streams they soon 




Brown Bros. 

A fleet of salmon (rollers off the coast of British Columbia. 

A (roller's catch of salmon often amounts to six 

or seven hundred fish in a day 

make their way to the ocean. Often, however, they 
are kept in nursery ponds where they are fed until 
they are much stronger and better able to protect 
themselves from their natural enemies in the streams. 

The little salmon seek the ocean and experience 
the same dangers as did Chinook. In their fourth 
year, they make the same exciting pilgrimage up the 
stream of their birth, and on the way they are either 
captured for a cannery or finally reach the spawning 
grounds to breed and die. 

Trolling for salmon. We now come to the task 
of catching these fish. We shall find the camps of 
the fishermen known as trollers near the Salmon 
Banks, so called because that is where the salmon 
feed. Many fishermen live on their boats during 
the fishing season. Should we go with a trailer we 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 



289 



should see that he has several poles sticking out from 
his boat. To each pole are attached two or more 
lines provided with spoon hooks. Hooks baited 
with small fish are also used. The troller's catch 
often amounts to six or seven hundred fish in a day. 
But his life is not all sunshine, for in stormy weather 
his position is perilous. At times, too, he is unable 
to locate a school of fish and, after days of fruitless 
toil, is obliged to return to the shore stations empty 
handed. 

Fishing for salmon with gill nets. The fishermen 
stretch their great nets squarely across the channel 
or river mouth on the incoming tide. Then as they 




Gill nelters and purse seiners in harbor. The purse seiners, in their 

swift motor boats, chase a whole school of salmon, 

encircling the fish with a huge net 

rush swiftly forward the oncoming salmon poke their 
heads in the meshes and are caught by the gills. 

19 



290 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Taking salmon with a purse seine. Quite the 
most exciting and one of the best ways of catching 
salmon is with a purse seine. This really means 
chasing a whole school of salmon in powerful 
motor boats and encircling the fish with a huge 
net. This net is often five hundred yards long and 
seventy feet deep. It is closed by pulling the 

' ' purse line ' ' at the bot- 
tom in the same way 
as an old-fashioned 
purse is closed by 
pulling the "puckering 
strings" at the top. 
This great net is kept 
in a vertical position 
by means of cork floats 
at the top and weights 
and iron rings at the 
bottom. The "purse 
line" runs through the 
iron rings at the bot- 
tom and the net is drawn tight after the fish have 
been encircled. Sometimes a single haul will take 
as many as 3,000 fish. 

The Columbia River "fish wheel." On the Co- 
lumbia River another very curious and interesting 
device, the "fish wheel," is used for catching salmon. 
It usually consists of a shallow boat, at one end of 
which is a wheel about twelve feet high. This wheel, 
which really resembles nothing so much as a garden 
hose reel, is fitted with a belt of fish net. The fish 
are caught in this net and as the wheel revolves are 
brought to the surface and dumped into the boat. 
Stationary or fixed fish wheels are also operated 






Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

Fish wheel on the Columbia River, 
Oregon 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 



291 



at certain points along the shore. These station- 
ary fish wheels are larger than the floating ones. 

Trap or "pot" fishing. The largest catches, how- 
ever, are made with traps or "pots." The salmon 
trap is composed of wire netting or tarred webbing 
stretched on piles or posts leading from a point where 
the fish are expected to come on their way to the 
spawning grounds out to the "pot." This "pot" 
is entirely inclosed with netting except at the mouth, 
or opening, by which the fish enter. The general 
plan of the trap is like that of the "deer drive" made 
in early days by pioneers on the western frontier — 
a device about which nearly every boy has read 
something. 

The trap is so made that the fish are steered into 
the "pot" by the wings of the "leads" or webbing. 
When once the salmon enter the trap they seldom 
if ever escape. When it is time to collect the fish, 
the cannery "tender" or tug brings a fish scow, 
which has been scrubbed clean with salt water, and 




A salmon trap or "pot." By this method are made the largest 
catches from fish on their way to the spawning grounds 

places it alongside the "pot." An immense "brail" 
or dip net operated by a power winch, or windlass, 



292 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



is carried by the tender and with this the fish are 
dipped from the "pot" and dumped into the 
scow. This barge or scow is usually made to hold 
at least 15,000 fish. As fast as one trap is emptied 
the barge is moved on to the next and the process 




Brailing salmon. The fish are scooped out of the "pot" with an 
immense brail or dip net and dumped into a scow 

repeated. In trap fishing it is not unusual for as 
many as 10,000 fish to be taken from one "pot" in a 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 293 

single day. Of all devices for catching salmon the 
trap is undoubtedly the surest and secures the 
greatest harvest. 

Canning the salmon. After the salmon are caught 
they are carried as quickly as possible to the can- 
neries that are always built at the water's edge. 
The fish are at once transferred to the butchering 
room. Here, by the old-fashioned method, a gang 
of twenty to forty Chinamen or other Orientals — 
the number varying according to the size of the 
cannery — open and clean each fish and cut off its 
fins and head. Then the salmon are dropped into 
a trough of running water to be scoured by other 
Chinamen. This old-fashioned method is now sel- 
dom used except by the smaller canneries unable 
to afford modern machinery. In all of the larger 
canneries, the Chinese butcher has been crowded 
out by a machine known as the "Iron Chink." 
This machine is able to do the work at the rate of 
fifty fish a minute. 

After the fish have been scoured a second time 
they pass under circular gang knives and are cut into 
pieces suitable for canning. 

In most factories the salmon meat is packed into 
the cans by machinery. In a few, however, this 
work is done by young women. Each can contains 
one pound of fresh salmon and a quarter of an 
ounce of refined salt. If smaller cans are used, 
salt in the same proportion is added. Nothing goes 
into the can besides the salmon and the salt. The 
cans of salmon are weighed and sealed by automatic 
machines. They are then covered with hot water 
as a test for leaks. If a can sends up a bubble it is 
instantly removed and resoldered while still hot. 



294 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



In what is called "old-style processing," the cans 
are next placed in retorts and cooked in live steam 
for about forty-five minutes at a temperature of 
220° under a pressure of about twelve pounds. 
Then a small hole is made in the top of each can 
to allow any surplus steam, gas, or water to escape. 




A load of ten thousand salmon. The result of a single day's 
trap fishing 

This hole is closed with solder while the can is still 
hot. The cans are returned to the cooking retorts 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 



295 



and given a second cooking for one hour, at a tem- 
perature of 240°. They are then cooled and tested, 





Feeding salmon to the "Iron Chink." _ This machine, which has 

largely displaced the Chinaman in the canneries, can 

cut and clean fifty fish in a minute 

after which they are dipped in lacquer and labeled. 
The solderless or "sanitary" can is fast pushing 
this old-style can out of use and therefore in many 
cans you will not find this second soldered vent hole. 
Under the new method the surplus fluids and gases 
are allowed to escape in the heating process before 
the top is sealed tight. The cooking in the retorts 
then lasts for ninety minutes at a temperature of 
240°. This softens the bones and completes the 
sterilization of the fish so that with anything like 
proper care it will "keep" almost indefinitely. Put 
up in this way salmon fully meets the high standard 
for wholesomeness set by the national pure food 



296 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



laws. Inspectors in the employ of the federal gov- 
ernment examine the output of every salmon cannery. 




Packing salmon in tins. In most of the larger factories this slow 

method of packing the fish by hand has been replaced 

by modern machinery 

Other ways of preserving salmon. Not only are 
canned salmon shipped from the Pacific coast, but 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 297 

fresh salmon as well are distributed throughout the 
whole country. Salmon are also frozen, smoked, 
pickled, and mild-cured. In the mild-cured process 
the fish are put in a weak brine and packed in 
tierces or casks containing about 800 pounds each. 
The mild-cured are the Chinooks and the Cohoes 
or silver salmon. Some of the mild-cured fish are 
sent to Europe and there smoked. Some are also 
smoked in Chicago, and other cities in this country. 
Many American boys and girls work in the large 
canneries on the Pacific coast and thus help in the 
support of their families. 

Supply and distribution. The chief sources of our 
salmon supply, in the order of their output, are: 
Alaska, Puget Sound, British Columbia, the Colum- 
bia River, and northern California rivers. About 
half the salmon pack is consumed in the United 
States and more than three fourths of the remainder 
in the United Kingdom, Australia, South America, 
and the Philippine Islands. 

In one year $14,500,000 worth of salmon was 
canned in Alaska; $18,600,000 worth in the Pacific 
coast states; $9,000,000 worth in British Columbia; 
making a grand total of $42,100,000 worth of salmon 
canned on the west coast of North America that 
year. This supply would allow about four pounds 
of salmon to each man, woman, and child in the 
United States. If the cans were placed end to end 
they would make a belt that would encircle the 
earth, with enough to spare to stretch from New 
York to San Francisco. Every year the salmon 
industry uses 100,000,000 fish, each weighing from 
three to twenty-five pounds or more, some of them 
measuring nearly five feet in length. 



298 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Within the last few years, several salmon can- 
neries have been built on the Pacific coast of Siberia, 
but as yet the quantity of salmon packed there has 
not been great. The principal species of salmon 
packed in that country are the Humpback and the 
Chum. 

Canned salmon is recognized as an excellent food 
for soldiers, and during the Russo-Japanese War 
immense quantities of Chum salmon were bought by 
the Japanese government for the use of its fighting 
men. In the early part of the great European con- 
flict, Canada furnished 25,000 cases of tinned pink 
salmon to the British army. The diet of the United 
States army and navy includes a liberal allowance 
of canned salmon. 



Chapter XIX 

OYSTERS 

The oyster a general favorite. One of the oldest 
foods known to the human race is the oyster. His- 
tory has it that primitive man to a great extent 
depended upon the oyster and other shellfish for his 
food. 

While Canada, Holland, Italy, England, Belgium, 
Japan, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Nor- 
way, and Russia have all at some time or another 
counted oyster fishing among their industries, France 
and the United States are the only countries where 
it has reached large proportions. Of these two 
countries, our own maintains by far the more exten- 
sive oyster beds. 

We are all fond of this wholesome food, which 
neither abundance nor cheapness can make common. 
Whether placed before us stewed, fried, steamed, or 
raw on the half shell, there are few of us that can 
withstand the appeal this shellfish makes to our 
palates. And in Europe, the land of delicacies and 
of epicures, we find the oyster almost supreme. 
The Parisian queen of fashion gives the oyster first 
place on her elaborate menu; the English hostess 
at the country place features this fruit of the sea at 
her week-end dinners; and the frugal wife of the 
Dutch peasant gives it the place of honor at her 
simple table. 

The American oyster abroad. We export many 
thousand gallons of shelled or " shucked" oysters 
and many thousand bushels of unshelled oysters 

299 



300 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



each year to Europe and to other parts of the world. 
One may purchase Chesapeake Bay oysters in 




rtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries 



An oyster fleet off the coast of Chesapeake Bay 

Russia, France, South Africa, Japan, Australia, or 
any other country where there is wealth enough to 
allow men and women to satisfy their taste for foods 
brought from a long distance. 

It is usually conceded throughout the world that 
the oysters of American waters are the finest grown 
anywhere. In many parts of Europe the most 
discriminating diners request that they be served 
American oysters and will accept as substitutes 
for these only the small, delicate product from the 
Dutch waters. 

Nationalizing the oyster. Few changes that have 
affected our national food supply in recent years are 
more important or wonderful than the nationaliza- 
tion of the oyster. There are men who can recall 
the time when fresh oysters were a rare delicacy to 
the inhabitants of this country, except along the 



OYSTERS 



301 



seashore. To-day they are obtainable any time in 
the season almost anywhere in the United States, 
and at a price that puts them within reach of persons 
of the most moderate means. This has been made 
possible through the great progress made in the 
methods of handling and shipping oysters so that 
they may be carried far inland without spoiling. 




Copyright by Underwood <fc Underwood, N. Y. 

Acres of oyster beds at Cancale on the coast of Normandy, France 

"Cove oysters." Before a system had been 
developed for the safe transportation of fresh oysters 



302 THE STORY OF FOODS 

to remote parts of the country, a method was 
devised of steaming the bivalves and packing them 
in hermetically sealed, or airtight, cans. These are 
known as "cove oysters," and are popular even 
where fresh oysters can be had. 

Oysters for inland markets. Because of the 
wonderful improvements in handling and forwarding 
this most delicate and perishable of foods to points 
far in the interior of this great country, our nation 
has, within late years, built up a mighty trade in 
oysters. To-day there is hardly a hamlet so remote 
from the seashore or from the centers of civilization 
that its inhabitants do not celebrate the coming of 
September with an oyster supper. These fetes 
continue until the letter "r" disappears from the 
name of the current month. 

The rancher, the lumberman, the miner, and all 
who work in the more isolated inland localities are 
almost sure to celebrate their appearance in town 
with a feast of oysters. At the same time the 
rulers of the earth, and those who live in the capi- 
tals of fashion and are free to indulge their taste 
without thinking of expense, can order nothing 
more tempting. 

We have much reason to feel grateful that this 
country has a vast natural supply of oysters — by 
far the richest of any country in the world — and 
that the development of rapid transportation, of 
refrigerator cars, and refrigerated shipping con- 
tainers has made it possible to place the oyster — 
in season — on the tables of families in almost any 
part of the United States. 

Oyster culture in America. At one time it seemed 
that our great natural supply of oysters was doomed 



OYSTERS 



303 



to destruction through the greed of the men who 
were permitted to take this rich harvest from the sea. 




Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries 

An oyster stockade. Breeding oysters are planted upon piles of rocks 

beneath the water. These rock piles are surrounded by stakes 

to which the young oysters fasten themselves 

So rapidly were our native oyster beds being de- 
stroyed, and with such vicious disregard of all laws 
and the common good, that public opinion finally 
brought pressure to bear on lawmakers to stop this 
wanton waste. 

It was then that the ancient and neglected prac- 
tice of oyster culture was suggested, together with 
adequate laws to govern the gathering of oysters. 
The pioneers in this good work recalled that the 
collection of oyster "spat," or young oysters, upon 
artificial stools was practiced by the Romans in the 
seventh century and that the same method is now 
employed in Lake Fusaro, Italy. This method is 
to pile rocks on the bottom of the lake and drive 



304 THE STORY OF FOODS 

stakes around them. Breeding oysters are planted 
on the rocks and their young fasten themselves to 
the piles or stakes, where they are left until ready 
for market. 

A study of oyster culture in France, where it has 
been practiced since about 1865, as well as in Ger- 
many and other European countries, brought about 
a change of attitude on the part of lawmakers 
toward the reckless combing or raking of American 
oyster beds. The oyster beds in certain localities 
are now closed for long periods and no one is 
allowed to fish in them. Both our federal and 
state governments have passed laws governing the 
seasons of fishing, the locations, and the manner in 
which the oysters may be caught. European ex- 
periments had proved that oysters could be farmed 
successfully and both the quantity and the quality 
of the product improved by proper cultivation. 
Accordingly, oyster farms were platted, seeded with 
baby oysters, and cultivated. 

Oyster farms. To-day a man may rent, lease, or 
buy an oyster farm from the state much the same 
as he would a dry land farm. The boundaries are 
plain and definite, even though the crop lies from 
twenty to a hundred feet below the surface of the 
water on which the fisherman's boat rides. In 
Rhode Island, for instance, the shellfish lands are 
leased to planters at so much an acre. The income 
from the oyster beds is used by the state to improve 
the industry. 

There is virtually no limit to the amount of oyster 
land that one may lease for the growing of oysters. 
There is one man who is at present holding about 
twenty-five thousand acres of oyster land and paying 



OYSTERS 305 



the state a good rental for the tract. In leasing 
such a large plot of land, this oyster grower took 




Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisherie 

Oyster culture. How a planted oyster bed looks 

into consideration several important possibilities. 
The same beds may not be productive two years in 
succession; changes in the currents of the fishing 
waters may bury a bed under drifting sand and 
smother the crop of oysters. He also realized that 
to obtain the best results from oysters they must be 
transplanted and that he must have beds in different 
bottoms and at different depths. He recognized 
that emergencies might make it necessary for him to 
move his oysters or else have them destroyed, and 
he must, therefore, have several beds ready in order 
to meet this situation. 

20 



306 



THE STORY OF FOODS 




Courtesy of L. ft. .Bureau ol irisiieriea 

Young oysters attached to an old 
shell — the ideal "cultch" 



Growing the oyster. The oyster bed is prepared 
by clearing the ground of rubbish and then sowing 

"cultch" — shells and 
stones — upon which 
are "spats" of oysters 
no bigger than a pin- 
head. The best cultch 
is good fresh oyster 
shells, which sell for 
about five cents a 
bushel in the Chesa- 
peake region, where 
our most famous oyster 
grounds are located. 
We can liken a "spat" of oysters to a "fry" of fish. 
Perhaps there may be as many as fifty of these tiny 
oysters upon one shell or rock. As they grow, the 
weaker ones are forced off. This process continues 
until there are left, say, two oysters. If they are both 
strong and hardy and firmly attached to the cultch 
one may grow around the other and in that manner 
make an irregular shell. Frequently more "spat" 

gathers upon these ^ 

shells, causing the 
oysters to grow in 
"clusters" one on top 
of the other, until those 
inside the cluster are 
dead. But careful 
planters prevent this 
unnatural growth. 

The beds are constantly examined and when it 
is found that the oysters are growing in clusters, 
the planter dredges or tongs them up, breaks them 




Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries 

Oyster spat on a stone 



OYSTERS 



307 



apart, and replants them. In fact, the separating 
and placing in other beds begins as soon as the 
oysters are old enough to be transplanted. Their 
age is determined by the ridges that appear in their 
shells, which designate the growth made each year. 
Forcing oysters for market. On the most favor- 
able part of his farm, 
the oyster grower 
makes a forcing bed. 
He watches the oyster 
market constantly and 
studies the conditions 
of his crop. When he 
decides upon the quan- 
tity of oysters he 
wishes to market and 
the time when he 
wishes to reach the 
market with them, he 
selects the oysters he 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

A mountain of oysters ready 
for planting 



intends to force and plants them in the forcing bed. 
This is usually done during spring and early summer. 
Young oysters are not raised on these forcing beds. 
These beds are used solely for preparing for market 
oysters that are almost mature. The oysters are 
usually allowed to reach their third year before 
being marketed. 

Enemies of the oyster. But the planting, the 
transplanting, and forcing of his oysters do not 
constitute the farmer's only care. The closest atten- 
tion is needed to protect his crop from the many 
enemies that prey upon it. Among these enemies 
are the starfish, the drumfish, the drill or borer, 
and many fishes which attack the oysters when 



THE STORY OF FOODS 




they are very young, before their shells have formed. 
Suppose an army of starfish, or " five-fingers" 
as they are known to the oyster industry, should 
descend upon a bed. How would they attack the 
oysters and what would be the defense? The 
starfish closes its five fingers about its victim and 
then settles down to force open the shell — a task at 

which it is an adept. 
This done, the starfish 
almost literally inhales 
the oyster — absorbing 
it by suction. 

At first the oyster 
planter knew of no way 
to cope with the star- 
fish other than to pick 
his oysters bodily out 
of the bed and carry 
them away. This of 
course was not practical. But now there is a standard 
method which progressive oyster farmers employ. 
Great balls or tangles of cotton waste, rope yarn, 
or other soft material are the weapons used in the 
fight against these starry plunderers. The oyster 
growers drag these balls of cotton waste across the 
oyster beds. The starfish is covered with sharp 
spines which are easily entangled in these drags. 
As a result, thousands of the invaders are caught 
and hauled out of the water. They are then 
destroyed by throwing them into scalding water, 
which kills them. 

The borers, although not so numerous as the star- 
fish, are more dangerous because there is practically 
no way known by which a bed may be freed of them. 



Couriesy oi U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 

Most numerous among the enemies of 
the oyster are the starfish 



OYSTERS 309 

They fasten themselves to the shell of the oyster 
and bore a hole through which they put their sucking 
tube to draw out the oyster. 

The drumfish do the most harm of all when a 
school of them descends upon a bed. Like other 
fish, they migrate and are therefore not confined 
to any certain spot. But, fortunately, they are not 
numerous in our oyster waters and they herald their 
approach by a heavy booming. This fish has 
grinders, that is, teeth set back from its jaws in rows 
like cobblestone paving, with which it crushes and 
grinds the oyster, shell and all. A school of drum- 
fish may completely destroy a bed of oysters in a 
few minutes. 

When the oysters are very young they are the 
prey of every fish in the waters, some of which 
might swallow enough tiny shell-less oysters at one 
mouthful to stock a bed for a season. It is said 
that only one oyster out of about every 10,000,000 
reaches maturity. Nature, however, tips the bal- 
ance in favor of the oyster, as the mother oyster 
sometimes lays as many as 60,000,000 eggs in a 
spawning season. If care is used in the cultivation 
of an oyster bed, it is possible to bring to maturity 
a much larger percentage than one in 10,000,000. 

American oyster beds. While oysters are found 
along practically the entire Atlantic coast, the 
greatest yields are secured from Long Island Sound 
and Chesapeake Bay. The public oyster beds of 
the Chesapeake have yielded in one year nearly 
15,000,000 bushels of oysters. 

California also produces oysters which are much 
like those found in the Mediterranean and other 
European waters. The oysters of our North Pacific 



310 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



coast are of fine grade, being highly prized by epi- 
cures. The oysters of Louisiana are also famous. 




Courtesy of U. S Bureau of Fisheries 

An oyster stockade in San Francisco Bay. Here may be seen the 
young oysters fastened to the stakes 

Although the natural beds were fished practically 
barren during the years previous to the passing of 
laws by the government to regulate the industry, 
the careful cultivation and the scientific development 
of oyster beds have actually increased the annual 
crop. In recent years the harvest of oysters has 
greatly increased and there is every reason to expect 
that it will continue to increase. 

Each year more oyster land is being cultivated 
in this country and the oyster growers are learning 
more about their industry by a careful study of the 
various methods of oyster farming practiced in 
Holland, France. England, and Japan. 

In spite of the enormous yield of oysters taken 
from our waters every year, we import this food 
from other countries in small quantities. The 



OYSTERS 311 

French oysters, for instance, are demanded for 
consumption in a very few fashionable hotels in 
large cities. 

Tonging and dredging for oysters. In "tonging" 
for oysters the oyster men usually work two in a 
boat, standing one at each end. They scrape the 
oyster bed with long tongs that look much like 
double rakes. These men become expert in this 
work and can tell by the touch when they strike a 
cultch, even though the tongs may have handles 
twenty feet long. Dredging for oysters is done with 
steam dredges which scrape the cultch from the 
oyster beds and dump it into scows that always 
accompany the dredge. 

In Japan oysters are planted in beds which are 
left uncovered when the tide is out. This makes 




Courtesy of U.fcS. Bureau of Msherie 

Tonging for oysters in San Francisco Bay, California. The fisher- 
men become very expert in finding the oysters with these 
awkward, long- handled tongs 

them easy to gather. It is excellent for the oysters, 
too, as they are said to grow much faster under 



312 THE STORY OF FOODS 

conditions of alternate exposure to air and sub- 
mersion in the water. But this practice cannot be 
followed in the United States as the frost would 
kill the oysters. In Japan oysters are also planted 
on fences in the tidewater, which helps to make the 
harvesting of them very easy. 

Shipping oysters. The oyster shipping season is 
from September until May, although for local use 
oysters may be harvested all the year round. In 
summer, the oysters, which are spawning, are not 
in good condition to ship. In some parts of the 
Atlantic, however, where the water is cold, the 
oysters are planted in early spring for summer use, 
as they cannot spawn in cold water. 

After the oysters are gathered they are carried 
to the packing houses. There they are ''shucked" 
or shelled, cleaned, and put into sanitary containers 
for immediate shipment to the markets. Oysters 
are shipped in refrigerator cars especially designed 
for that purpose. 



Chapter XX 

CANNED FOODS 

The ever-present tin can. Altogether the most 
wonderful and important development in providing 
the world with food is typified by the tin can that 
is found wherever man sets his foot — whether in 
the heart of the great city or on the ice plains of 
the polar regions. This can of " tinned food" —to 
use the English term — is so widely used that it is 
one of the most commonplace objects that can be 
mentioned. It is so common, in fact, that the 
sight of a shelf full of these goods in a grocery, a 
kitchen, or a pantry hardly stirs a thought in the 
mind of the average boy or girl. The existence of 
this form of food is accepted as being quite as much 
a matter of course as beans, peas, or tomatoes 
growing in a garden. In fact, there are many 
thousands of boys and girls in the great cities who 
have never seen these vegetables growing. Unless 
they were told to the contrary, it would be natural 
for such children to think that tin cans were really 
the source of many fruits and vegetables. For, so 
far as their own vision is concerned, these children 
are able to trace these foods no nearer their source 
than the can. This odd viewpoint of the child of 
the crowded city districts is important and inter- 
esting here, because it brings out vividly the fact 
that canned foods are now so universal in their 
distribution that they are common in places where 
the same foods in a natural or uncanned state are 
either rare or unknown. 

313 



314 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Beginning of the canning industry. Robinson 
Crusoe dried raisins in the summer for the very 




*i*f 



«#£• 



Harvesting a bountiful crop of peas for the cannery. The first 
step in their journey to the consumer's table 

reason that our American canners to-day put up 
hundreds of millions of cans of every kind of good 
things to eat. The canners have furnished the means 
for making bountiful harvests last over through 
seasons of scarcity. This they do in a way that 
brings vegetables, fruits, fish, meats, milk, and 
many other foods to our tables in a condition that 
is as pure, as sweet, as wholesome and appetizing as 
when the food that now comes from cans grew, 
swam, or walked on four feet. The canning in- 
dustry to-day is one of the greatest achievements 
of civilized man. 

From 1795 to 1804 Francois Appert, a Frenchman, 



CANNED FOODS 315 

labored to preserve food in all its original goodness 
without the use of any preserving substance. And 
finally he succeeded. Appert found that foods 
spoiled because certain little organisms, called 
germs, grew in them when they were exposed to air 
and caused them to decay. If he could kill these 
organisms and keep new ones from the food — why, 
what was there to prevent its keeping sweet and 
good? 

This is what he did: He placed different kinds 
of food in glass jars and bottles, which he tightly 
sealed and corked. Then he placed these containers 
in water and heated that water for different lengths 
of time. Later he removed his jars and bottles, 
cooled them, and after a long time opened them 
and tasted the food. Presto! It was sweet and 
good and tempting. 

Appert's methods still followed. Roughly speak- 
ing, all there is to canning is simply putting the 
food in containers — we nearly always use tin now — 
sealing these, and heating them to a temperature 
that kills every little organism that would make 
the food sour or decay. Foods canned in glass 
containers are usually cooked before being placed 
in the jars or bottles. This heating or cooking 
process is called sterilization — killing the germs. 
In both cases the canners kill the germs by heat 
and keep out new ones by simply shutting out all 
air. You see, the organisms that make foods sour 
are everywhere. The air is full of them. The sugar 
that is used in making jelly, jam, and marmalade 
tends to preserve these products. If you find 
sugar in a canned food you know that it has been 
placed there simply to sweeten it. Foods properly 



316 THE STORY OF FOODS 

canned do not require sugar or anything else to 
keep them pure and wholesome. 

There is practically no limit to the kinds of foods 
that may be canned or preserved. The list in- 
cludes fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, soups, milk, 
sauces, salads, — in fact almost anything you eat. 

Canning increases variety of our table foods. 
There are very few fruits or vegetables that cannot 
be raised in the United States; and since by canning 
these foods it is possible to ship them all over the 
world and to keep them almost indefinitely, it is 
possible for the family in Maine to put on their 
table during a winter blizzard the foods that could 
be raised only in the very warm and moist parts of 
the South. For the same reason it is possible for 
the man who lives in the desert country of the West 
and Southwest to have the finest fruits, fish, vege- 
tables, and delicacies that our country produces. 

Canned foods from foreign countries. Now 
in regard to the part played by foreign countries in 
supplying us with canned foods: We are proud to 
be able to say that the canned foods consumed 
in the United States are almost wholly produced in 
this country. The canned foods which are sent 
from other countries are, for the most part, rare deli- 
cacies which are mentioned in the chapter " Tempt- 
ing Table Delicacies," and a great many of these 
foreign foods are so expensive as to be out of reach 
of the average American pocketbook. 

In a recent year we find that other countries sent 
us canned vegetables worth a little more than 
$1,500,000 and canned fruits worth about $5,000,000. 
The total value of canned meats imported from other 
countries was less than $2,000,000. 



CANNED FOODS 



317 



Now think for a moment how great our own can- 
ning industry is: each year the American canners 




Shelling peas for canning. Every year the canning industry saves 
countless tons of foodstuff s from going to waste 

put up more than 50,000,000 cases of two dozen cans 
each. This is over 1,200,000,000 cans— or 60 cans 
of food for each family in this country — that other- 
wise might go to waste. And this is saved for our 
tables for all seasons of the year. In the United 
States there are about 3,000 canneries at work for us. 
When canned fruit excels fresh. Canned pine- 
apples from Hawaii are much better in flavor than 
the fresh pineapples we buy in the markets. This is 
because those in cans were picked ripe, while those 
in our markets were picked green so they would 
stand shipping and be ripe when they reached this 
country. 



318 THE STORY OF FOODS 

The relation between canned foods and geog- 
raphy. Here is an excellent opportunity to study 
geography. First let us see from what parts of 
our own country we get canned foods. 

Find Seattle, Washington, on your map. From 
here we get a portion of our supply of canned salmon. 
A great deal of this canned fish is packed on the 
shores of Alaska and much comes from the Columbia 
River. Now go all the way across the country 
to Florida. This state furnishes some of our 
canned pineapple, although the greater part of our 
supply of this fruit comes from the Hawaiian 
Islands, where certain large American canning and 
preserving companies have their own plantations 
for the growing of fruit and vegetables with which 
to make their product. A limited amount of 
canned pineapple now comes from the West Indies. 

Next find Michigan. It is from there that we 
get many different varieties of canned berries and 
small fruits. Of course there are many other 
states from which we get the same products, among 
which are New York, Maryland, Maine, Oregon, 
Delaware, and Virginia. Also California gives us 
a wonderful variety of fruits. Indeed, we may 
say that this state alone produces a greater variety 
of fruit than any country in the world except our 
own. It is the foremost canning state of the Union. 

As you know, there are many fruits which come 
from a great many different states. Among these 
are the pears, plums, and cherries. Strawberries 
are most easily raised in Oregon, Maryland, New 
Jersey, New York, California, Washington, Missouri, 
Michigan, and other northern states, although they 
do well in practically every other state in the Union. 



CANNED FOODS 



319 



As for canned vegetables, they are put up in 
every state. The greater part of the canned corn 




Brown Bros. 

Assorting corn for the cutting machine in a cannery. A careful 

selection and sorting out of the products received at the 

factory insures the consumer canned foods 

of uniform excellence 

is grown in the Middle West — Illinois, Iowa, 
Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska 
— although choice corn is grown in the West. 
In the East, New York, Maryland, and Maine 
play an important part in making up our yearly 
supply of canned corn and also of tomatoes, 
peas, and other common vegetables. Our canned 
asparagus comes mostly from California and her 



320 THE STORY OF FOODS 

sister states in the West and from Florida, although 
some of it is from the Southern and Central States. 

Now let us see what we import from other 
countries. If you will refer to the chapter on 
delicacies you will find a fairly complete review of 
the fruits and vegetables which we import. 

Take your map and trace to their sources some of 
the foods that you have eaten recently. This will 
undoubtedly take you to many foreign lands, 
especially if your parents are lovers of the dainties 
we buy from the Old World. 

While the United States leads the world in the 
canning industry, there are, nevertheless, many small 
canning plants in the European countries. Holland, 
for instance, has canneries that put up several hun- 
dred different foods, which include practically every 
vegetable obtainable, not only separately, but mixed 
with other vegetables, with fruits and meats and 
fish; for example, " mixed peas," "green peas and 
spring carrots," "beef and onions," "green peas 
and veal," "anchovies with pimiento peppers and 
truffles," "chestnuts and sausages," and many other 
combinations. They also put up a great variety of 
sauces, soups, potted game, poultry, and sausages. 

Holland is by no means the only European 
country that turns out a quantity of canned foods. 
France and Italy are important canning countries. 
France cans mushrooms, truffles, sardines, asparagus, 
and potted meats; while England is famous the 
world over for the delicious sauces, ketchups, 
pickles, jams, and jellies which she exports. It 
may surprise you to know that over 90 per cent 
of the canned food England exports she must first 
buy and ship in from other lands. 



CANNED FOODS 321 

Not only in our country, but in Europe too, the 
use of canned foods is becoming more common 
with each passing year. That is because the public 
is gradually learning the truth about the purity 
and convenience of canned foods. 

Putting up foods at home. Those of you who live 
in small towns and in the country have seen your 
mothers or sisters "can" or put up the vegetables 
and fruits from your garden and orchard. Have 
you ever wondered how the big canning factories 
do it? At home perhaps you help gather the 
fruit, berries, and vegetables that are to be canned 
or preserved. You know how you go out early in 
the morning, while the dew is still on the grass, 
and pick whatever is to be put up. You know how 
these things are prepared for cooking. They must 
be washed, or hulled, or peeled, or, in the case of 
some fruit, the stones must be removed. 

The next process, you will remember, is to boil the 
fruit — sometimes with sugar and sometimes without 
— and now you must look sharp to see that it does 
not boil over or burn. When the fruits, berries, 
or vegetables are ready for canning, how carefully 
mother washes the jars, glasses, cans, or other con- 
tainers ! This is done with boiling water so that they 
will be thoroughly sterilized — which means to wash 
away every impurity, to kill any germs in the con- 
tainer, and to sweeten it. Next the cooked food is 
poured in steaming hot and the top fastened down 
tight. Now the containers are turned upside down 
and left for 4 a time, to be sure that there are no 
leaks and that air cannot get in and spoil the food. 
Then the canned food is put away in a cool, dark 
place until needed. 

21 



322 THE STORY OF FOODS 

A trip through a modern canning factory. Now 
we will make a trip through one of the big modern 
canning factories, where a wide variety of foods are 
received and put up, and see how the work is done 
there. The superintendent has agreed to take us 
through, show us everything, and explain all the 
processes as we go along. 

"Years ago," he says, "we did not encourage 
visitors to our plant, but we have since learned that 
the average American is prejudiced against all 
canned foods not put up by his wife or mother, 
believing they are handled in an unclean or careless 
manner. Therefore we are now doing everything 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. Agr. 

To make sure that there are no leaks, the careful home canner 

turns the container, when filled with the steaming 

hot food, upside down 

possible to show our customers how we do our work — 
where we get the food we put up and how we handle it. 



CANNED FOODS 



323 



Selecting the foods. "Now let me tell you some- 
thing of the care we use in the selection of the food 





Harvesting tomatoes for the cannery 

we can. At home your mother went into her own 
garden and took the vegetables from the vine or 
stalk and the fruit from the tree or bush, sorted 
them, threw away what she did not wish to use, 
and put up the remainder in the way she thought 
best. No one else handled them and she knew 
they were just what they should be, and that 
nothing harmful was put into the can. 

"That is the good old-fashioned way. Now let 
me tell you how we select and handle our food. 

"We really choose the food before it is planted. 
Our first step is to find farmers who understand their 
business, who will raise what we want, and raise it 
in the right way. The next step is to buy for them 
the very best seed that can be found. After that 



324 THE STORY OF FOODS 

the farmer is instructed as to the proper way to plant 
this seed and raise the food by men whose business 
it is to see that our instructions are followed. The 
right time is chosen for harvesting, which is done 
in the most up-to-date and sanitary manner. 

Shipping, cleaning, and preparing foods. "Then 
the food is delivered by the farmer to our near-by 
station, where it is carefully sorted and shipped to 
this plant in our own cars. As a rule, however, 
the canning factory is located in the district where 
the produce is grown. Immediately upon its arrival, 
it is again sorted and sent to the cleaning machines. 

"These cleaning or washing machines are large 
tanks in which the food is allowed to remain until 
the dirt is loosened. The food is then stirred gently 
by agitating the water and next sprayed. The force 
of the spray depends entirely upon the hardness of 
the food, for the force of water necessary to remove 
dirt from beets would destroy strawberries or rasp- 
berries. Some hard-coated products, like peas, are 
washed in wire cylinders which revolve rapidly 
under water. 

"While some fruits do not need any further prepa- 
ration before cooking, there are many that do, and 
almost every vegetable must go through one or more 
machines between the washer and the cookers. 
Peaches, apples, pears, and similar fruits must be 
peeled and cut in pieces. The pits must be removed 
from some of the stone fruits. 

"String beans must be cut in lengths; peas must 
be shelled, graded both for size and for quality, 
washed, and blanched. With us this means parboil- 
ing. You see that big vat over there with the wire 
ladles over it? The peas or other vegetables to be 



CANNED FOODS 



325 



blanched are put in those big ladles, dropped into the 
boiling water for the proper length of time, and then 




Tomato conveyors. In this manner vegetabtes and jruits are carried 

to and from the machines in which they are 

cleaned and cooked 

automatically lifted out. When we are blanching 
mushrooms or other delicate foods we prepare them 
in that small vessel you see, and we add lemon juice 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



and butter to the water in which they are blanched. 
Fresh, clean water is used for each batch of vegetables. 

Methods of cooking and canning. "Some foods 
are cooked in the can and some are already cooked 
when placed in the can. Fish, for instance, is 
usually cooked after it has been canned. If you will 
step over here to these large copper vats, which are 
heated by steam coils, I will show you how pork and 
beans and other things already cooked are put in cans. 

"Notice this big vat, in which four hundred bush- 
els of the choicest beans are being cooked, and the 
next one which contains many gallons of tomato 
sauce. These beans are cooked — boiled — just as 




Can-filling machines. These automatic machines are great labor- 
saving devices, filling the cans with fruit or vegetables 
direct from the cooker 

your mother cooks them. See! They are dumping 
the beans into another and larger vat. Notice how 



CANNED FOODS 



327 



plump and white they are. Now they are adding 
the tomato sauce. Over at that table you will 




After the cans are filled with boiling hot fruit or vegetables they 

are carried on a belt to the compressed air "capper," 

which automatically clamps on the lids 

notice a dozen or more girls cutting pork into small 
pieces. Now see that machine filling the cans with 
the beans and sauce with some of the pork added. 
Now the tops are automatically put on the cans by 
a compressed air ' capper ' which clamps on the top 
without the aid of solder. This capping machine 
can seal about eighteen hundred cans an hour. You 
see that belt carrying the sealed cans into a large 
trough of boiling water? Should there be a leak 
in a can, the inspector would instantly detect air 
bubbles forming upon it and would reject it. This 
boiling water also serves to sterilize thoroughly the 
canned product. 



328 THE STORY OF FOODS 

"Now the cans are transferred to another traveling 
belt which conveys them through cold water that 
cools them again, as the food would not be good to 
eat if it stayed hot too long. 

Preserving peaches. "Those ten steam-heated 
vats across the room are used for cooking fruits and 
sirups. In the fourth one they are putting up 
peaches. A shipment of three cars of peaches all 
perfectly ripe was received and so we are running 
them through as fast as possible. If some of them 
had not been quite ripe, we should have kept them 
in cool rooms until they were ripened. 

"That big machine with a number of slanting 
screens is the size grader. We first grade our peaches 
for size. Then they are cut in half, pitted, and 
passed on to the peelers. One way of peeling them 
is to steam the peaches and slip the skins off. An- 
other way of peeling them is to dip them into lye, 
which eats away the skin, after which they are 
washed in water to remove any trace of the lye. 
Still another way is to peel them by hand with a 
knife; but that is a slow method. Steaming is the 
hardest way, and requires the most care, but we 
think the result is worth it. 

"Our next step is to place the peaches carefully 
in those big steam-heated vats and cook them as 
your mother cooks her preserves. When cooked, 
they are placed in cans and bottles which have been 
sterilized with steam, and then the sirup is added. 
After the containers are sealed the peaches go through 
the same process as beans and other canned foods. 

Making salad dressings and pickles. "Like most 
large factories that can fruits and vegetables, we also 
put up salad dressings and pickles. We shall now 



CANNED FOODS 



329 



go to the room where a certain kind of salad dressing 
is made. We sell many thousand cases of dressing 




A busy scene in a great canning factory. Here carloads of 

cucumbers from the company's patches are being 

transformed into crisp pickles 

each year and at times have three mixing machines 
working steadily for weeks, combining the ingredients. 
"That first machine is the mustard grinder. 
Into the top of it pours an endless stream of round 
black mustard seed, and from the bottom flows a 
thick yellow powder. This mustard is next passed 
into the mixer, an enormous metal cylinder in which 
revolve great paddle wheels. These paddles thor- 
oughly stir and mix the various seasonings which 
are added to the mustard to produce the salad dress- 
ing. Finally the dressing is placed in an immense 
tank, from which it is drawn by taps as it is needed. 
Some days as many as ten thousand bottles will be 
filled with the dressing from this tank. 



330 THE STORY OF FOODS 

"It is impossible for me to give you any idea of 
the number of acres of cucumbers which are made 
into pickles in this country in a single day. Over 
there are ten carloads of cucumbers soaking in 
brine — and that will be but a small part of the 
cucumbers pickled in our plant this year. 

"This one plant uses the output of more than 
twenty farms or ' patches ' of cucumbers. When the 
farmers bring the cucumbers in to the various sub- 
stations of the factory, they are placed in brine and 
shipped in special tank cars. At the factory they 
are taken out, washed, and sorted. Then they are 
placed in enormous wooden hogsheads which are per- 
haps sixteen feet deep and twenty feet wide. Into 
these hogsheads are poured many gallons of brine 
to cure the cucumbers. After they are cured the 
cucumbers are sucked out through large pipes and 
emptied upon sorting tables, where those of inferior 
quality are culled. All cucumbers that are mis- 
shapen or broken, but the quality of which is in 
no way lowered, are used for chopped and sliced 
pickles, relishes, and similar products. Those of 
poor quality are thrown out. 

"The next process is the pickling. If sour pickles 
are wanted, vinegar is added to the cucumbers; and 
if dill pickles are wanted, great bunches of dill 
(an aromatic plant) are placed in the vat with the 
cucumbers. After a certain length of time the 
pickles are removed and packed in small kegs, jars, 
bottles, barrels, hogsheads, or other containers 
ready for shipping. The choice pickles that are 
put up in bottles are hand packed. 

"Many vegetables besides cucumbers and fruits 
are also pickled. 



CANNED FOODS 



331 



The importance of the label. "The last process 
these cans and bottles go through before being 




In the soup kitchen of a canning factory. In this room thousands 

of chickens are being turned into a familiar brand 

of chicken gumbo 

shipped is that of labeling. All our fancy foods we 
label by hand in order to make them as attractive 
as possible to the buyer. In recent years the label 
has become extremely important. Formerly labels 
were placed on canned foods so that the storekeeper 
and the customer might easily find the article 
wanted. Later the label was used as an advertising 
medium, and still later, with some concerns, as a 
means to hoodwink the consumer. But the Food 
and Drugs Act put an end to this. To-day all labels 
must state plainly just what and how much the can 
contains. This law is a help to the honest manufac- 
turer and distributor as well as to the consumer." 
Now you have had a little glimpse of the inside 



332 THE STORY OF FOODS 

workings of an up-to-date canning factory. This 
factory does not can fish, nor milk, nor rare fruits, 
nor meats except those that are put up with 
vegetables. It merely takes care of such fruits 
and vegetables as are most commonly grown in the 
section around it. But you know of course that 
it is possible to can practically every food we use 
on our table. Oysters and hominy are canned, and 
canned soups are now used all over our country as 
well as abroad. 

Canning milk. We have said nothing about the 
canning of milk. Of course you know that milk 
spoils more quickly, perhaps, than any other food, 
and unless it is kept in a very cold container it is 
almost sure to sour and thus become unfit for 
drinking. But the canner has met this condition 
by working out safe, clean methods for carrying 
milk in sealed cans. You have no doubt seen 
your mother use what she calls evaporated milk. 
She punches two holes in the top of the can; one 
hole lets in air and the other lets out milk. Now 
this evaporated milk is merely fresh milk from which 
the greater portion of water has been taken, then 
the can sealed and heated to a high temperature, 
which, of course, sterilizes the milk. Sterilizing 
keeps milk from spoiling just as it keeps corn or 
tomatoes or beans fresh. 

Condensed milk, which is thicker than evaporated 
milk, is not sterilized but is merely milk from which 
a large amount of water has been taken by patented 
processes and which is then sweetened with sugar 
sirup. This sweetening keeps the milk from souring. 
American milk condensers use about 1,300,000,000 
pounds of fresh milk each year in making condensed 



CANNED FOODS 



333 



and evaporated milks. The average price paid the 
farmer for this milk in a normal year was $1.56 a 




Evaporating or taking the water out of fresh milk in these great 

vacuum pans is one of the processes employed in the 

making of evaporated and condensed milk 

hundred pounds, so that through this industry the 
American farmer sells each year about $20,000,000 
worth of fresh milk that must otherwise spoil or be 
sold for a price considerably lower. 

We now make most of the condensed and evapo- 
rated milks used in this country, but it is quite 
possible that at some future day condensers in 
Europe may furnish a large portion of it. For in 
Europe labor is so cheap and the materials used 
in the production of milk are obtained so cheaply 
that foreign condensers are able to ship milk to 
America and sell it at a lower price than American 



334 THE STORY OF FOODS 

condensers must ask for theirs. In Europe women 
and boys and girls work in the dairy barns, milk the 
cows, and do a great deal of the farm work. They 
receive low wages, which, of course, makes the 
cost of producing fresh milk much lower than in 
this country where men receive higher wages and 
where it is not customary for women and children 
to work in dairy barns. 

The canner a conservationist. Now the canner 
not only plays an important part in our civilization 
by furnishing us wholesome and safe foods which 
can be stored away in a limited amount of space 
and used at all seasons of the year, but he is also 
what we call a conservationist. A conservationist 
is one who cares for and uses to the best possible 
advantage any natural resource. Of course, there 
are no resources quite so valuable or important as 
our natural and cultivated foods. Suppose, for 
example, there were no canneries in this country. 
What would become of the thousands and thousands 
of tons of fruits, vegetables, fish, and meats in many 
localities that could not be eaten when fresh because 
the supply greatly exceeded the demand? We 
should simply have an enormous waste, and later 
food would be scarce and very expensive. Our 
truck farmers and fruit growers too would make 
very little money except during the season when 
the market could take care of such supplies as were 
brought in fresh from the fields or orchards. 

The canner takes care of this situation by storing 
away for future use the immense product of the 
land and of the sea. Some of these canning plants 
have many branches or small plants that take care 
of the fruit and vegetable crops as fast as they 



CANNED FOODS 335 

are harvested. For example, one main canning 
factory has fifty small plants in operation during 




Taking care of a surplus product. _ Assorting and stemming a big 
shipment of cherries in a canning plant 

the season, and there is at least one firm in Cali- 
fornia that has thirty plants. 

Some of these plants will put up from 250,000 to 
300,000 cans of food a day. Think what an oppor- 
tunity this is for the men who grow this food. 
They are always sure of a market for their products, 
and the people in the cities and in faraway sections 
of the country, where food crops are not grown 
extensively, are sure of plenty of good, wholesome 
food at moderate prices. 

Since our chief reason for canning foods is the fact 
that they will outlast fresh foods, you will naturally 
wish to know how long canned foods will keep. 



336 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



If a can of tomatoes could be kept only a few days 
or weeks longer than fresh ones it would not pay 




P. • _r i 7 • t r • Brown .Bros. 

repaying fresh Lima beans for canning 

to can them. Therefore it is important to know 
how long canned foods will remain wholesome and 
what must be done to protect them. 

General Greeks experience with canned foods. 
General Greely, a famous arctic explorer and once 
Chief of the United States Signal Service, when 
asked for his opinion on canned foods wrote the fol- 
lowing interesting letter about them. 

"You ask me to state the effects of freezing upon 
canned fruits and vegetables, especially as regards 
the texture and flavor of tomatoes, corn, and the 
like. Apples, peaches, pears, rhubarb, green peas, 
green corn, onions, and tomatoes were all subject 
to extreme temperatures (over 60 degrees below 



CANNED FOODS 337 

zero) and were frozen solid for months at a time. 
The second summer they thawed; the following win- 
ter they froze solid again. 

"All the articles named presented the same appear- 
ance as though freshly canned, and their flavor was 
as good when the last can was eaten as in the first 
month. It should be understood that these were 
first-class canned foods from dealers of standing and 
reliability. 

"Cranberry sauce, preserved damsons, preserved 
peaches, and fruit butters suffered certain changes 
from candying, and the like, which detracted some- 
what from their flavor, though not materially so. 
Dealers in such preserves predicted that such condi- 
tions and changes would occur. 

"I had also canned turnips, beets, squash, and 
carrots, as well as pineapples, cherries, grapes, clams, 
shrimps, and crabs, which, although not subject to 
such extreme temperature as the foregoing, yet froze 
and thawed repeatedly without injury. No can of 
any kind, except a few — say half a dozen — of fruit 
butter, was ever burst by action of heat or cold. No 
illness of any kind occurred prior to our retreat and 
those most inclined to canned fruits and vegetables 
were the healthiest and strongest of the party. 

" I have written thus fully in answer to your letter 
from my conviction that the excellent quality and 
variety of canned provisions contributed materially 
to the unequaled health of my command during the 
two years we passed in unparalleled high latitude. 
The importance of good canned fruits and vegetables 
to parties unable to obtain the fresh article cannot 
be overrated, and so I speak with no uncertain tone 
on the subject." 

22 



338 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Canned foods and arctic explorers. Seventeen 
years after the rescue of General Greely from the 
arctic ice by Commander Schley, Lieutenant Peary 
on his dash to the North Pole discovered General 
Greely's old camp and found most of his canned 
provisions perfectly good. 

Professor Donald McMillan of the Peary expedi- 
tion gives us still further proofs of the service that 
canned foods rendered the explorers. On one of his 
first trips out from Cape Sheridan with a sledge and 
Eskimos he skirted the east coast of Grant Land 
and Grinnell Land (if you refer to your big map you 
will find that Cape Sheridan is at the east end of 
Grant Land on the Lincoln Sea — just west of Peary 
Land in the north of Greenland) and slowly made 
his way to Fort Conger. This fort lies on the north 
coast of Grant Land on Lady Franklin Bay in about 
60° W. longitude. Near this point he discovered 
one of General Greely' s old camps of the expedition 
of 1881-1884. 

"Here," he writes, "I found relics, all of which 
were in the same condition as when they were dis- 
carded by the ill-fated members of that expedition. 
I found coffee, hominy, canned rhubarb, canned 
potatoes, breakfast food, and all sorts of supplies. 
They were just as good as ever and I practically 
subsisted on them all the time I was there." 

Professor McMillan braved the dangers of a winter 
in that terrible country that he might study its 
natural features, its climate, and its people. Can't 
you see him behind his team of "huskies" — Eskimo 
dogs — wrapped in furs to his eyes and emitting great 
white breaths! Quite likely he had been traveling 
all that day over the endless stretch of snow-covered 



CANNED FOODS 339 

piles of ice that rose on all sides. No doubt he was 
stiff and numb with cold and dared not remain on 
the sled but had to tramp for many weary miles 
beside the silent Eskimos. 

And the camp itself — the old Greely camp ! What 
was that like? Were there tents buried in the 
snow, were there caves, or were there igloos, those 
queer little ice houses in which Eskimos live dur- 
ing the arctic winter? Can you imagine Professor 
McMillan's thoughts as he opened and sampled the 
canned food? 

How long will canned foods keep? Now that we 
know how much cold canned foods will stand without 
serious loss in flavor or food value, the next question 
that arises is: How long will canned foods keep? 
That is a difficult question and the answer to it, no 
doubt, depends upon the kind of food canned. But 
here is a story that shows us how one vegetable will 
keep. There were found in La Crosse, Wisconsin, 
in 1913, two cans of squash which had been canned 
twenty-eight years before. These two cans were 
kept at an even temperature for another year and 
then opened in March, 1914. The contents were 
found sweet and wholesome. 

Home canning encouraged by government. Be- 
cause of the recognized value of canned foods both 
the national and state governments are doing much 
to encourage their use and to induce families in the 
country to put up their own vegetables and fruits 
when possible. In the South especially, a great work 
has been done in this respect, and as a result many 
families of the South now have a greater variety of 
food on their tables the year round than ever before. 
But it is the poor who will probably profit most by 



340 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



the government's instruction in the art of canning. 
In the counties of many states tomato-raising and 




Preparing for a canning contest. The county agent demonstrating the 
government method of tomato canning in a rural community 

canning contests are now carried on each season. 
Seed is furnished to the superintendents of the 
various schools to be distributed among the girls 
who are willing to raise and can the tomatoes. Then 
in midsummer there are canning demonstrations and 
contests held by the county agent under the direc- 
tion of the state agricultural college and the United 
States Department of Agriculture. 

Don't you think that if you were furnished seed, 
ground, and instruction, you would like to try raising 
food and canning it yourself? Would n't you like 
to win the prize for the best canned tomatoes? 
Perhaps the United States government is helping 
the boys and girls in your neighborhood now. It 
may be that your public schools are already inter- 
ested in corn clubs and canning clubs. 



Chapter XXI 

DRIED FRUITS 

Drying a cheap and simple process. One of the 

best means of adding to our food supply is the 
drying of fruit. The principal reason why this is 
true is that the drying process is simple and com- 
paratively cheap. Another reason is that dried 
fruits generally retain, to a remarkable degree, the 
delicious flavor of the fresh fruit. 

These things are far more important than they 
might seem to be at first glance. Only when 
forced by necessity will we eat that which does not 
appeal to our taste. Many nourishing foods are 
cheap, therefore, because they are neither palatable 
nor attractive. It is fortunate that a food delicious 
in flavor, rich in nourishment, and of excellent 
keeping quality is to be had at a relatively low price. 

At first it is not easy to understand why a food 
having so many merits should still remain cheap. 
But if we consider the nature and source of certain 
of our dried fruits the reason is easily found. For 
instance, in localities favorable to the growth of 
the prune, the date, and the fig enormous crops 
of these fruits are produced. Only limited quan- 
tities of them can be used at home or shipped 
to near-by markets when fresh. Therefore drying 
the fruits not only prevents great waste but con- 
tinually extends their use, and makes possible a 
reasonable price. 

Drying a fruit widens its use. If the prune 
could be had only fresh, canned, or as a preserve, 

341 



342 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



it would probably be little known outside the 
localities close about the districts in which it is 




Drying figs on straw near Karabunar, Bulgaria. Figs would be little 

known outside of the localities in which they are grown 

without the aid of the drying process 

grown. Certainly this is also true of the fig and 
the date, which in dried form have almost a world- 
wide distribution. 

Then, too, there are certain varieties of other 
fruits which are excellent when dried, but which, 
in other forms, are not suitable for commerce. 
Raisin grapes head this list, with Grecian currants 
second. 

Drying prevents waste. The larger part of our 
immense volume of dried fruit is made from crops 
raised for that especial purpose. But it is quite 
true that growers sometimes resort to drying in 
order to save the surplus of an unusually heavy 
fruit crop from spoiling. This is probably done 



DRIED FRUITS 343 

more often with peaches and apples than with any 
other fruits. 

Suppose the peach trees in California, — which 
furnishes practically all of our dried peaches, — are 
loaded with a bumper crop and that sugar, glass 
jars, and tin cans are uncommonly high. This 
condition is certain to reduce greatly the canning 
of peaches, by both housewives and commercial 
canners. In such a situation one thing is reason- 
ably sure to happen. The price of peaches will drop 
until there is little or no profit in harvesting them. 
You will remember that neither sugar, glass, nor 
tin is required in drying fruits. Therefore, the 
heaviest items of expense are cut out. So, instead 
of leaving a large part of his peaches to rot on the 
ground, the grower finds a way out of his difficulty 
by drying the fruit. 

In a normal year the United States produces 
about 300,000 tons, or more than 500,000,000 
pounds, of dried fruits. This would give about 
6 pounds of fruit to each man, woman, and child 
in our country. Nearly 85 per cent of this comes 
from California. When trying to realize just how 
much this means in the problem of feeding the 
nation you should remember that dried fruit is 
a very compact food and that there is much 
more food value in one pound of dried fruit than 
there is in three or four pounds of the same fruit 
fresh. 

A blessing to Indian and pioneer. Dried fruits 
have been used in America from aboriginal times. 
The Indians were drying apples and berries when 
the white man came to this country. Of course 
their way of doing it was as crude as their way of 



344 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



drying meat, but the product was an important 
addition to their meager food supply, especially in 




Brown Bro.s. 

Drying time on a great California peach ranch. In this way the 

surplus of a bumper crop of peaches is being 

conserved or saved from waste 

winter. This was also true of the early pioneers of 
this country. Without their stores of dried berries 
and other wild fruits their winter food supply would 
have been scant and unattractive. In fact, their 
only " sauce," except in summer and fall, was made 
from dried berries and other dried fruits. 

America dries fruits for the world. It is doubtful 
if there is a country in the world to which America 
does not send dried fruits. We yearly export over 
80,000 tons, or more than 179,000,000 pounds of 
dried fruit. Contrast this with the 26,500,000 
pounds we import. We send whole shiploads of 
dried fruits to England, France, and Germany, and 



DRIED FRUITS 345 

lesser quantities to Russia, Italy, and Australia, and to 
various countries of Asia, Africa, and South America. 

What the world sends us. In return we receive 
from abroad chiefly the smaller dried fruits. Raisins 
we get from Spain, Asiatic Turkey, and Greece. 
Currants we buy from Greece. Dates, which require 
a hot, dry climate for growth and ripening, come 
from Northern Africa and Western Asia. Persia 
leads in the production of dates, but shipments 
come from Turkey also. Turkey is our chief 
source for figs, although that fruit may be grown in 
almost any mild climate. California is now 
producing annually from 12,000,000 to 14,000,000 
pounds of excellent figs, and fig culture is grow- 
ing more popular in that state every year. At 
present, however, almost the entire crop is grown 
in a single valley of the state. Considerable quan- 
tities of ripe olives, salted and dried, come from 
the eastern Mediterranean nations, and we buy 
dried mangoes from Mexico, dried persimmons 
from Japan, and a certain kind of raisin from 
China. 

Secrets of fine flavor in dried fruit. Before ex- 
plaining the process of fruit drying a word should 
be said about the wonderful flavor of fruits properly 
dried. The secret of this fine flavor lies in the 
fact that fruits for drying are allowed to become 
fully ripe before being picked. For this reason, to 
a person living at a distance from the orchards, 
sauce made from dried apricots seems far richer 
and finer in flavor than the fresh fruit. This is 
because an apricot, to stand shipping, must be 
picked when only partially ripened, and therefore 
never reaches its finest quality and flavor. So the 



346 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



distant consumer does not know how delicious 
apricots really are. 

The same is true of many other fruits. In the 
last day or two before an unpicked berry or fruit 
reaches perfect ripeness it improves, perhaps a 
hundred fold, in flavor. The prune plum is allowed 
to ripen so perfectly that it falls from the tree of 




Brown Bros. 

Apricots drying. The dried fruil is superior in flavor to the fruit 

picked for shipping because it is not gathered 

until perfectly ripe 

its own accord. Here is the real secret of the 
richness and sweetness of the dried product. 

Two ways of drying fruit. Fruit may be dried 
in the sun, or in evaporators built for that purpose 
and heated by artificial means. Sun drying on a 
commercial scale is possible only where there is a 
long season without rainfall or heavy dews. Most 
of our evaporated fruits, except apples, come from 
Oregon and Washington. 



DRIED FRUITS 347 

Two classes of California fruits. The California 
fruits are divided into two classes, cut and uncut. 
The cut fruits, — again excepting apples, — are those 
which are split in halves before drying. Peaches, 
apricots, pears, and nectarines are treated in this 
manner. The principal uncut fruits are prunes, 
plums, raisins, currants, and berries. 

Removing the peel. Let us first study the 
treatment of cut fruits from which the skin is re- 
moved before they are halved. The fruit has been 
allowed to ripen fully and special care has been 
taken in picking and handling it to avoid bruising. 
It is now dipped into a solution of lye, rinsed in 
pure water, and run through brushing machines 
which remove the skin. The action of the lye 
solution weakens the skin so that it is easily removed 
by the brushes. This " peeled" product has become 
extremely popular with the trade and the public. 

Cutting and stoning the fruit. After being peeled, 
the fruits are automatically cut in half by revolving 
knives. Then they are automatically conveyed to 
a kiln with wire-mesh shelves, and there treated 
with sulphur fumes. Both the bath in the lye 
solution and the "fuming" are considered decidedly 
cleansing and wholesome. They are really a sort 
of insurance against the development of all kinds 
of germs. Unpeeled dried fruits are fumed in the 
same manner as peeled fruit. 

Of course the stones or "pits" are removed from 
all cut fruits at the time of cutting. The pits of 
freestone peaches drop out as the two halves fall 
apart after the knife has done its work. The pits 
of the clingstones and the cores of other fruits have 
to be cut out with spoonlike knives. 



348 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Drying fruit in the sun. The fruit is dried in 
large, shallow trays. During the season acres and 




Drying fruit in the sun. The fruit is placed in large, shallow trays, 

which in the drying season in the fruit-growing sections of 

California cover many acres of ground 

acres in the dried fruit districts of California are 
covered with these trays spreading their fragrant 
burdens of delicious fruits to the rays of the sun. 
Nearly all the dried fruits from California are sun- 
cured. When the fruit is partially dry the trays 
are stacked in piles about ten feet high and the fruit 
left to cure more slowly so it will not become hard. 
Next it is placed in bins or boxes to go through a 
sweating process. Then it is ready for packing and 
shipment. 

How uncut fruit is cured. Now let us consider 
uncut fruit and follow a crop of prunes through 
the curing process. This is not unlike that already 
described. The thoroughly ripened fruit is care- 
fully gathered and given a bath in a solution 
of lye. Then it is at once rinsed in pure water. 



DRIED FRUITS 349 

The purpose of this bath is to "cut" or thin the 
skin so that it will not become like a thick rind as 
it dries, and to prevent the prune from "hot-curing. " 
As a result of their dip in the lye solution the prunes 
cure evenly from skin to pit and the skin acquires 
a delicacy of texture which makes the fruit much 
more palatable. After being rinsed the prunes are 
placed in trays to dry in the sun. Then comes the 
slow curing in the stacked trays and later the 
sweating in the bins. 

Finally the prunes are "processed/' The most 
modern device for doing this is a wire-mesh con- 
veyor belt running in a long and rather deep box. 
Jets of live steam and of hot water play upon the 
prunes as they take their ride on the conveyor. 
With this method the water is not used more than 
once. When the prunes have passed through this 
final bath they are not only thoroughly clean, but 
soft and pliable for packing into the boxes and other 
containers in which they are to be sold to the public. 
The fancy boxes are "faced"; that is, the prunes of 
the top layer are arranged in even rows and care- 
fully pressed into place. 

The dried prune is produced from a certain 
variety of plum which is grown especially for this 
purpose. There are other kinds of plums used for 
drying, but these are known in our markets as dried 
plums. The United States produces annually about 
140,000,000 pounds of prunes. Most of the prunes 
used in this country are grown in California and 
Oregon, but we import a few fancy grades from 
France, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Turkey. 

Raisins are possibly the best known dried food we 
have. The greater part of the raisins consumed in 



350 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



this country used to come from Spain and Turkey. 
Extra fancy Malaga cluster raisins are still imported 
from Spain and we also import some Turkish sultana 
raisins. But California alone now produces many 
times as many raisins as Spain. The yield of one 
valley alone in the state is more than double the 
quantity of raisins produced in that country. 

In a single year the United States produced 
250,000,000 pounds of raisins. Although our exports 
of raisins are greatly in excess of our imports, Spain 
and Smyrna send us each year from 2,000,000 to 
4,000,000 pounds. Yet, if we divide the number of 
pounds of raisins eaten every year in this country 




Drying season in the California raisin district. The ripened raisin 

grapes, like other fruits to be dried, are put in shallow 

trays and placed in the sun 

by the total number of people living in it, we find 
that each person consumes only 1.5 pounds a year. 



DRIED FRUITS 



351 



In Great Britain the average consumption in a 

single year is 5 pounds for each person. But the 

people of this country 

are beginning to learn 

the great food value of 

raisins. So no doubt 

within a short time we 

shall be able to say 

that each American 

eats as many pounds 

of raisins a year as 

does each person in 

Great Britain, Spain, 

or any other Old World 

country. 

Raisin grapes are 
allowed to ripen on the 
vines, and in Europe 
the stems are cut part 
way through so that 




A box of raisins ready for the 
wholesaler 



the clusters of grapes may begin drying slowly on 
the vine. 

After the raisins are cut from the vines they are 
placed on trays and left for a time to dry in the 
sun. They are then stacked to cure more slowly. 
After they are sufficiently cured the raisins are 
taken to the packing house and packed according 
to varieties and grades. 

The different kinds of raisins. " Cluster raisins" 
are the finest raisins sold. They are in the original 
state and are put up in fancy boxes or paper cartons. 
Most raisins are sold loose or stemmed and shipped 
in large boxes or other containers. Most of the 
Muscat grapes which reach the consumer are in 



352 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



the form of seeded raisins. The smaller "cooking" 
raisins are known as the sultana and Thompson 
seedless. These are small seedless varieties used in 
cakes, breads, pies, and puddings. Bakeries and 
mincemeat factories use large quantities of them. 
Seeding and packing raisins. Raisins that are 
to be seeded are first put into a room in a dry heat 
of 140° F. and left for from three to five hours. 
Following this they are run into chilling rooms and 
thoroughly chilled. This loosens the cap stems so 
that they may be easily removed. The larger stems 
have already been separated from the raisins by a 
very nervous machine somewhat like an old-fashioned 
grain separator. After the cap stems have been 
removed, the raisins are passed through cleaning 




Stemming raisins. The larger stems are removed jrcm the 
raisins by machinery 

machines. In these machines they are automatically 
washed and brushed to remove the dust and dirt. 



DRIED FRUITS 



353 



Next the raisins are put into a room with a moist 
temperature of 130° F. This brings them back to 




Packing raisins for market. The raisins are weighed and then 
packed in paper cartons and fancy boxes 

their normal condition. Now they are passed 
through a huge seeding machine, which can remove 
the seeds from twelve tons of raisins a day. The 
principle of a seeding machine is a rubber roller 
which revolves against a roller having minute teeth, 
or points. These teeth penetrate the raisins, which 
are fed from a hopper, and force the seed against 
the yielding surface of the rubber roller. As soon 
as the pressure is released the rubber springs back 
into place and drops the seeds. At the same time 
the roller with the mass of raisins in its teeth is 
mechanically " combed" and the raisins removed 
before it completes a revolution ready to receive 
from the hopper another "feed" of unseeded raisins. 
Now the seeded raisins pass down chutes to the 

23 



354 THE STORY OF FOODS 

packing tables, where they are weighed and packed 
into paper cartons of various sizes and designs. If 
raisins are properly prepared they will keep their 
good qualities for many months. 

The " dried currant" from Greece. One of the 
most delicious raisins is not known as a raisin at all 
but as a currant. This is the " dried currant" of 
Greece of which the shade-dried Vostizza is the 
finest type, with the Patras ranking second. Next 
in order of grade or variety come the Provincials 
from the west coast and the Calamatas from the 
southern tip of the country. The word ' 'currant" 
is a corruption of "Corinth." 

The Greek currant graders become so skilled in 
their work that when blindfolded one of them can 
separate a mixed lot of samples containing a number 
of grades without making a single mistake. We 
get small quantities of dried currants from California 
and Australia, but the industry in these places is 
only just beginning. 

The world's output of raisins. Like other dried 
fruits, raisins are shipped virtually to all parts of 
the world, both by the United States and by other 
raisin-producing countries. The accompanying table 
shows about how many pounds of raisins each 
country produces in a normal year. 

California 224,000,000 

Spain 31,360,000 

Australia 15,000,000 

Turkey (sultanas) 11,200,000 

Greece (currants) 354,000,000 

Dried berries no longer a home product. Besides 
the fruits named, various berries are dried and mar- 
keted in bulk and packages. Dried raspberries, 
cherries, blueberries, loganberries, gooseberries, 



DRIED FRUITS 



355 



and other small fruits come from our Southern 
and Eastern States, and also from Idaho, Oregon, 




Brown Bros. 

Packing figs at Smyrna. Because of the long journey they must make 
figs imported to our country are dried and packed with great care 

Washington, and others of the Western States. 

Years ago most families living in the country dried 
raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants, and 
other small fruits for home use, sometimes with and 
sometimes without sugar added. But now it is 
not only cheaper but more convenient to buy these 
foods from the grocer. The fact that modern 
methods of fruit drying insure a high standard of 
cleanliness adds to the popularity of the commercial 
product. As far as possible the fruits are handled 
entirely by machines. 

Figs one of our earliest imports. The fig tree 
has furnished food for man since the dawn of 
history and probably long before. Figs were eaten 



356 THE STORY OF FOODS 

in America long before the signing of the Declaration 
of Independence. In fact, they have been imported 
into this country for hundreds of years. While the 
dried fig is by far the more popular, we also use 
a large quantity of rigs stuffed, preserved in sirup, 
and in maraschino. Fresh figs spoil quickly and 
cannot be shipped any great distance except when 
handled with the greatest care. This makes the 
fresh fruit rare and expensive except in localities 
near by the rig-growing districts. 

Figs are raised in California, Texas, and Louisiana, 
where the industry is growing rapidly. All of our 
American dried figs come from California. But we 
are still compelled to import the greater portion of 
the figs we use. The most of our imported rigs 
come from Turkey, Portugal, and Spain, although 
Greece and Italy export some to this country. 
Those from Portugal come packed in quaint straw 
mats and are used mainly for manufacturing pur- 
poses. The figs from Spain are of a lower grade. 

Candied fruits from the Old World. We also 
import crystallized, or candied, products from the 
Old World. Candied citron is from the countries 
bordering the Mediterranean Sea. But lately we 
have imported large quantities of this peel in brine 
and crystallized it here. Candied kumquat, a fruit 
much like a small orange, comes from China. From 
France we get candied, or " glace," cherries, grapes, 
and other fruits; also "Angelique tubes," crystal- 
lized plant stalks similar to rhubarb but hollow. 

These crystallized, candied, or glace products are 
used as sweetmeats and as flavoring in cakes, pud- 
dings, and other confections. While the larger part 
of what we use is imported, much candied orange, 



DRIED FRUITS 



357 



lemon, and citron peel is made in this country. 

Crystallizing fruits is a slow and painstaking 

process and one requiring no small amount of skill. 




Candied fruit. This delicacy, which is prepared by a slow and 
painstaking process, is mostly imported 

The aim is to saturate the fruit or peel completely 
with sugar. To make the sugar permeate to the 
center of a fruit is by no means an easy task. In 
order to do this the fruit is put into three different 
sirups. Sometimes, when only a small quantity is 
to be crystallized, each piece before being placed in 
sirup is pierced with copper needles. These needles 
are not affected by contact with the acid of the fruit. 
The larger the fruit the more necessary it is to use 
the needles. When a large quantity of fruit is to be 
treated this method is slow and vexatious. About 
the same result is accomplished by plunging the 
fruit into a hot bath. This opens the pores of 
the skin, relaxes the flesh, and makes it possible for 
the hot sirup to reach the center of the fruit. The 
first sirup is light, the next a little heavier, and the 
third very heavy. By the time this treatment 
is completed the fruit has been in its sirup bath 
several weeks. When taken out it has a beautiful 
gloss. 



Chapter XXII 

CONDENSED FOODS 

A dehydrated dinner. Suppose you were invited 
to a dehydrated dinner. Would you not be half 
afraid to accept? No doubt many would hesitate 
because they would not know what sort of a dinner 
to expect. 

Dehydrating is a process by which the moisture 
is drawn from food, without taking anything else 
with it. For instance, from a dehydrated straw- 
berry all moisture has been taken — nothing else. 
It has the same color, skin, smell, and taste as when 
fresh. When the moisture is returned it will have 
the same appearance, smell, taste, and color it had 
before dehydration. 

- But if you were to sit down to a dehydrated dinner, 
what could you have? You could start with that 
wonderful pea or lentil soup used by the German 
army. This is a powder and is put up in packages 
in the shape or form of a sausage. Or perhaps you 
would prefer a different kind of dehydrated soup, 
powdered mock turtle or tomato bisque, for instance, 
or maybe bouillon made from a cube. 

Yes, you could have a dehydrated relish and a 
dehydrated salad. In these you would find dehy- 
drated peppers, onions, celery, horseradish, and 
garlic. 

Do you like omelet? Very well, then, you could 
have a fine yellow omelet made from powdered or 
dehydrated eggs. And what a choice you could 
have of dehydrated vegetables — corn, tomatoes, 

358 



CONDENSED FOODS 359 

peas, cabbage, beets, spinach, potatoes, beans, car- 
rots, cauliflower, onions, and asparagus tips! 

Your dehydrated dessert might include bananas, 
peaches, pears, apples, cranberries, strawberries, or 
raspberries. Or there might be a pie made of dehy- 
drated rhubarb or cherries, or a cake which would 
contain dehydrated eggs and which would have 
been mixed with dehydrated milk. 

In your powdered coffee you would use con- 
densed or evaporated cream. Finally you might 
take some ice cream made from ice cream powders, 
flavored to suit. All this dinner you could easily 
carry in one pocket. Or, you could take an entire 
meal in the shape of one dehydrated chocolate cube 
or a malted milk tabloid. 

Dehydrating foods. Now let us see what these 
dehydrated foods are and how they are prepared. 
Let us begin with potatoes, which are put into a 
large hopper, with a revolving file-like wheel at the 
bottom, to scrape off the skins. At the same time 
they are scoured in running water. From this 
hopper they pass on a traveling belt between rows 
of girls who remove the eyes and parts of skin which 
the machine failed to get. The belt next carries the 
potatoes through a long tunnel-like box where sul- 
phur fumes thoroughly sterilize them, killing any 
germs which might cause them to rot or turn black. 
From the sulphur box the potatoes are passed to 
the sheer, where they are sliced. After this process 
they are placed on trays and put into the dryer, 
where the dehydrating takes place. 

The first process in dehydrating is to draw all the 
moisture from the air in the dryer. This is done first 
by passing the air over ammonia coils, like those 



360 THE STORY OF FOODS 

used in cold storage plants. This chilling causes the 
moisture in the air to condense and collect on the 




A group of condensed foods. Dried mushrootns, powdered milk, and 
dehydrated com before and after adding water 

coils. After the air has passed over these coils it is 
absolutely dry, but cold. The next step is to heat 
that air. This is done by passing it over hot coils, 
which bring it to a temperature of from 80° to 
180° F. The temperature depends upon the kind 
of food that is to be dehydrated. 

With the aid of a strong blower the hot air is 
forced through the compartments containing the 
potatoes or other products, and this draws the mois- 
ture from them. This ends the process. Dehy- 
drated potatoes are sometimes powdered and made 
into potato flour. 

Peaches and berries. The process of dehy- 
drating peaches is very similar to the dehydration 
of potatoes, except that, instead of being sliced, the 
peaches are cut in half, and the pits are removed. 
In dehydrating berries, such as cranberries, straw- 
berries and raspberries, washing takes the place of 
peeling and slicing. 



CONDENSED FOODS 361 

Powdered milk. Probably the making of pow- 
dered milk or milk flour is the most interesting of all 
dehydrating processes. Fresh milk is forced by com- 
pressed air through fine nozzles, so that it is sprayed 
out in a mist. Directly below the nozzles are open- 
ings sending up very hot air. The instant the milk 
mist strikes this hot air it is turned into steam and 
carried up through a funnel-shaped cone into a large 
room or cupola. The sides of this room are hung 
with screens of woolen fabric or mill gauze, through 
which the hot air and steam pass. But the solid 
particles of the milk are caught by it and drop 
into bins. 

Condensed or evaporated milk. At the outset, it 
is well to understand the difference between pow- 
dered or dehydrated milk and condensed or evap- 
orated milk. We learn that milk contains about 
90 per cent water. For making condensed milk, 
the milk is first strained, skimmed in centrifugal 
separators, and then heated to a temperature that 
will drive off the gases of the milk and destroy the 
germs. Next it is strained, and, if the condensed 
milk is to be sweetened, a quantity of granulated 
sugar is added. The milk is then placed in an enor- 
mous egg-shaped copper vessel from which all the 
air has been pumped to form a vacuum. The vessel, 
which has a capacity of about 1,500 gallons, is 
heated by steam and evaporation takes place in from 
an hour to an hour and a half. The vessel may 
be thus filled and emptied six or seven times a day. 
With condensed as with powdered milk, only the 
very highest quality of milk is used. It is furnished 
to the condensing plants by farmers who make 
it their business to supply this demand. This is 



362 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



done under rigid inspection. Like the other con- 
densed foods, evaporated milk will keep indefinitely. 




Wrapping bouillon cubes, one of the best known and widely used 
of the concentrated foods 

Other concentrated foods. There are still other 
concentrated foods, with which you are no doubt 
more or less familiar. They are put up in tins, in 
capsules, in essences, in tabloids, and in paste. 
Chicken gumbo, meat tablets, beef capsules, tea 
tablets, date-and-nut paste, and mushroom powders 
from France are among the less familiar concentrated 
foods. 

A boon to explorer, hunter, soldier. There are 
many reasons why foods are put up in this manner. 
One reason is the economy of space and weight. For 
long exploring and hunting trips and for armies they 



CONDENSED FOODS 363 

are very valuable. One man can carry enough 
powdered and dehydrated food to nourish him for 
months. 

If you have ever gone camping, fishing, or hunting 
in a remote part of the country you will know that 
it is often impossible to secure fresh foods of any 
kind during your stay, with the possible exception 
of fish, game, wild berries, or wild plums. It is 
difficult to carry fresh foods, such as vegetables and 
eggs, on such an expedition. Then condensed foods 
are a great boon, for even canned foods are heavy 
in comparison with the dehydrated varieties. 

Relative Proportions of Dehydrated Fruits and Vegetables 

1 lb. of dehydrated soup greens is equal to 30 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated cauliflower is equal to 25 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated celery is equal to 20 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated tomatoes is equal to 20 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated cabbage is equal to 18 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated apples is equal to 8 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated horseradish is equal to 7.1 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated raspberries is equal to 7 lb. of fresh 
1 lb. of dehydrated garlic is equal to 2.8 lb. of fresh 

Other important reasons for the use of condensed 
food are that it will keep indefinitely, and that 
it can be put up in clean, cheap, and convenient 
packages. The condensing of food makes it easier 
and less expensive to handle. 

It is but natural, then, that the governments of the 
various nations should be heavy buyers of this kind 
of food. In a dash for the North Pole, you can easily 
imagine the saving in space and labor which a small 
jar of powdered eggs would offer over three or four 
dozen fresh ones. Moreover, danger of freezing or 
spilling would be done away with. What a won- 
derful thing it is for the explorer to be able to carry 
the equivalent of many gallons of soup in a small, 



364 THE STORY OF FOODS 

convenient package. For the use of soldiers it would 
be difficult to overestimate the value of condensed 
foods. 

Use of condensed foods. Of condensed foods the 
three great staples — powdered milk, powdered eggs, 
and powdered potatoes or potato flour — are sold 
almost entirely to the big users. They are seldom 
handled over the retail grocer's counter, save at the 
most remote outposts of civilization. Dehydrated 
fruits and berries are growing in favor, because we 
are able, by adding a little water to them, to make 
products very much like the fresh article, with 
little loss of flavor or nutriment. Chemists and 
other scientists have proved that man can live 
entirely on these concentrated foods and be properly 
nourished. In European countries concentrated 
foods have for years been used and they will no 
doubt win their way into favor in this country. 

While we have learned most of what we know 
about preparing these condensed foods from the 
Germans, American manufacturers have sold many 
thousands of pounds of condensed foods to Germany. 

Polish foods. In Poland, in Central Europe, 
fruit extracts are made from plums, apples, and 
pears. The people of that country do not have a 
great variety of fruit and what they have is con- 
sumed almost entirely at home. They have little 
or none for export. They have a rather peculiar 
method of preserving prunes. They make a prune 
paste, somewhat similar to that which we import 
from Bohemia in barrels, and put it up in round 
loaves lightly rolled in flour and allowed to harden. 
It will keep in this manner for a long time, and is 
usually eaten in slices like cheese with bread. 



CONDENSED FOODS 365 

The Poles have an equally original method of 
putting up beets. The beets are cooked, skinned, 
and then placed in large vats or tubs with vinegar 
and spices and allowed to ferment. These, too, will 
keep indefinitely and are considered a great delicacy. 
These sour or fermented beets are known by the 
name of barscz. Almost every nation, province, 
or state has its own peculiar foods, of which this is 
a good illustration. 



Chapter XXIII 

COFFEE 

The popularity of coffee. There are few foods 
about which consumers are usually so particular as 
they are about coffee. People who enjoy this bever- 
age at all are likely to regard it as the most delicious 
drink that has found its way to the tables of civil- 
ized man. 

Coffee a restaurant "drawing card." Certain 
high-priced restaurants and hotels have catered to 
this highly developed taste to such an extent that 
their popularity practically rests upon their ability 
to hit the taste of their customers in this one par- 
ticular. In other words, the excellence of the coffee 
served is their " drawing card." Considered from 
this viewpoint, the coffee served in these places is 
the most important item on the menu and any 
variation in its quality is a matter for serious thought 
on the part of the management. In many instances, 
a poor brand of coffee has turned thousands of 
dollars a month away from the cash drawer of a large 
city restaurant. Likewise the serving of coffee of a 
high standard of excellence, day after day, has 
driven more than one restaurant out of the ranks 
of the poorly paying into the highly profitable 
class. 

Dealer's success depends upon quality. The 
same sensitive taste as to the quality of the coffee 
served in the home may be noted in nearly every 
family that uses it. This fact has a big trade 
significance. It means that importers, jobbers, and 

366 



COFFEE 



367 



retailers in foods must give special attention to this 
product about which the general public is so par- 
ticular. The wholesaler realizes that if he can make 
his coffee department especially strong, his house is 
thereby placed in a good competing position. It is 
doubtful if there is any one article, other than coffee, 




Loading a coffee ship at Santos, South America. An early stage in 

the long journey of one of the most popular articles 

brought to our tables from foreign countries 

on the food list upon which is centered so much care 
by all who traffic in foods. In view of this fact it 
is interesting to note that the price of coffee is not 
subject to the extreme changes that affect most 
foods about which the consumer is particular. The 
choicest coffee to be had in the market, the kind 
bought by persons of great wealth who consider 
quality without regard to cost, does not command a 



368 THE STORY OF FOODS 

startling price. At least there is no such difference 
in the prices of coffees that there is in the prices of 
teas. Almost any fancy grocery in a large city, a 
store patronized chiefly by people of wealth, carries 
teas that sell at several dollars a pound. Probably 
the most exclusive grade of coffee carried in this 
class of stores does not sell for more than sixty or 
seventy cents a pound. 

The first coffee drinkers. There are many stories 
as to who first discovered the food value of coffee. 
Here are two of the most interesting and the most 
likely to be true. In Europe this important dis- 
covery is usually credited to the inmates of an old 
monastery in Arabia. The monks had noticed that 
their goats after browsing upon coffee berries were 
unusually lively. Prompted by curiosity they de- 
cided to taste the berries and find out for themselves 
whether they would be affected in the same way. 
Accordingly they first tried chewing the berry, but 
the result proved unsatisfactory. Next they boiled 
the berries but were again disappointed. They felt 
quite sure, however, that the berries should be cooked 
in some way, so they tried roasting them. To their 
delight they found that this gave the berries a fine 
flavor. For some time they continued to chew the 
roasted berry. Finally one of the younger monks 
brewed a delicious and stimulating drink by boiling 
the roasted berries after pounding them in a mortar. 
Very soon coffee became the most popular drink 
at their meals. Pilgrims to whom the monks gave 
shelter and food were pleased with the strange but 
fragrant beverage served them at the monastery. 
They spread its fame wherever they journeyed and 
thus the use of coffee was extended. 



COFFEE 369 

Our second story relates that coffee roasted, pow- 
dered, and made into paste balls has been familiar 
to the Ethiopians of Northern Africa from an un- 
known time. These balls were eaten without fur- 
ther preparation. Coffee reached Abyssinia in the 
latter part of the thirteenth century and traveled 
to Arabia about two hundred years later. From 
there it was distributed to the world. 

Origin of "Mocha" coffee. Coffee was originally 
shipped from the port of Mocha, to which it owes 
the name "Mocha." But for many years none 
has been shipped from that port, which has been 
closed by drifting sand except to native boats. 
This name, however, still clings to a certain kind 
of high-grade coffee. Abyssinia now ships a grade 
of Mocha, and much of that kind of coffee is 
shipped from Aden, a British port in Arabia. 

Mandheling and Ankola coffees. Undoubtedly 
the choicest and finest coffees of to-day are grown 
in the Dutch East Indies, on the Island of Sumatra. 
They are known as Mandheling and Ankola. These 
coffees were formerly known as Old Government 
Java, because the coffee was picked from the 
different plantations, cured, and at regular periods 
collected by the government and shipped to Amster- 
dam, where it was sold at auction. 

The coffee countries. There are numerous grades 
of coffee grown in many different countries. The 
various countries of the world consume in all about 
2,500,000,000 pounds each year. This coffee is sup- 
plied by Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, 
Costa Rica, Ecuador, Salvador, Mexico, Porto Rico 
and other islands of the West Indies, Java, Sumatra, 
Ceylon, India, Arabia, and Abyssinia. 

24 



370 THE STORY OF FOODS 

If you turn to the map of the world and note care- 
fully the position of the coffee countries, it will help 
you to realize the remarkable geographic range of 
coffee production. In this study of the map you 
will learn another interesting fact about the coun- 
tries which contribute to mankind's supply of coffee: 
that is, that South American countries now play the 
leading part. Coffee is the star crop of tropic America. 

On a great coffee plantation. The United States 
is the largest coffee consumer. We buy in a year 
about 1,000,000,000 pounds of coffee. Of this Brazil 
supplies about 75 per cent. For this reason it will be 
interesting to take a look at the plantations there. 

The coffee tree, or shrub, is produced from a seed. 
The seedlings are transplanted when small and the 
tree grows to a height of eight to fifteen feet. It 
produces a crop about five years after the planting 
of the seed. 

The leaves resemble those of the laurel, and the 
flowers are not unlike jasmine blossoms and are 
very fragrant. A few days after their opening the 
flowers disappear and in their place come clusters 
of green berries which when ripe are a bright red. 
They are ready for picking in about six or seven 
months after they appear. As the time for pick- 
ing approaches, the berries shrivel and dry. Each 
normal berry contains two coffee beans. 

Here, however, enters a most interesting exception. 
Probably you have more than once seen a sign in a 
retail grocery calling attention to "Peaberry Coffee" 
and have wondered what was the especial peculiarity 
of that variety. The fact is that it is not a dis- 
tinct variety at all. Had you looked closely you 
would have noted that the berries were round instead 



COFFEE 371 

of flat. These double or undivided berries occur at 
the end of the branches where they are not as well 




Coffee picking in Brazil. At this time men, women, and children 
are all busy at work gathering the bright red berries 

nourished as the others which get first chance at 
the supply of plant food. The result is that these 
tip-end berries are stunted while their more favored 
companions develop into twin or "flat" beans. The 
"peaberries," however, are quite numerous and a 
very acceptable article of trade, having as much 
strength as a fully developed coffee bean. 

Coffee is picked by men, women, and children 
who carry baskets into which they put the fruit. 
When the baskets are full, the coffee is dumped in 
heaps, then loaded on wagons and carted to the 
drying stations. After the beans are thoroughly 
washed they are spread in the sun to dry, either in 
large shallow wooden trays or on modern terraced 
concrete drying yards. Every morning after the 
dew has disappeared, the coffee is raked over to 
insure a thorough sunning. 

After the coffee has been properly dried or 
" cured," it is repeatedly run through hulling and 



372 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



fanning machines, which clean it and remove the 
tough hull. Then the coffee is ready for shipment. 




% 1 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

A coffee-drying plantation, Cordoba, Mexico. The berries are 
raked every morning in order to insure a thorough sunning 

Why coffee is blended. Blending — usually done 
by the importer or wholesaler — is an important 
branch of the coffee industry. Different varieties 
of coffee beans are blended or mixed together in 
order to obtain a smooth, mellow, aromatic liquid. 
Blending strengthens a coffee that is too weak and 



COFFEE 373 

tempers one that is too strong. For instance, gen- 
uine Mocha is a little too acid and genuine Java is 
usually not quite acid enough to please the popular 
taste. So, in order that each element may be in 
just the right proportion to produce the finest pos- 
sible flavor, the two coffees are blended. That is, 
the blender uses just the proper proportion of each 
to obtain the right result. The success of a certain 

Chemical Composition of Coffee i 

raw coffee roasted coffee 
Per cent Per cent 

Caffeine 1 1 



Sugar 9 to 10 



Caffetannic acid 8 to 10 4 to 5 

Fat and oil 11 to 13 13 to 14 

Albumin 11 to 13 13 to 14 

Nitrogenous extract 

and coloring matter 4 to 7 12 to 14 

Dextrin 1 1 

Cellulose (fiber), etc.. 38 48 

Ash 3 to 4 4 to 5 

Moisture 8 to 10 1 

x Accordmg to The Grocers' Encyclopedia. 

brand of coffee depends largely upon the quality 
and uniformity of the blend. The blending of coffee 
is done before it has been roasted. 

Roasting brings out flavor. Coffee roasting is an 
art which requires great skill, since it is proper 
roasting which gives the coffee its flavor. Of 
course different coffees from different countries will 
vary in strength and aroma or, as we sometimes say, 
bouquet, if subjected to the same roasting. How- 
ever, a radical difference in roasting can bring about 
a far greater difference in taste than can nature 
through the influence of widely different soils and 
climates. The coffee bean is composed of innum- 
erable tiny cells in which are stored the aromatic 



COFFEE 375 

oils of the coffee. Roasting causes certain chemical 
changes in the bean which alter both its appearance 
and its flavor. Roasting liberates the "caffeine," 
which is the stimulating quality in coffee, corre- 
sponding to the "theine" in tea. 

When the coffee is ground the cells are broken up 
and the oils released. Then immersing it in boiling 
water quickly brings out the flavor. The art of 
producing the finest beverage from any coffee is 
much a matter of not permitting any of the aroma 
to escape from either the package or the brew. 

Where we get our coffee. If coffee is not already 
the favorite drink of the American people, it is grow- 
ing in popularity every day. On an average each 
man, woman, and child in this country consumes a 
pound of coffee every month in the year. In France 
coffee is served in several ways. Individually, Scan- 
dinavians are the world's greatest coffee drinkers. 
They drink coffee not only at each meal but also 
between meals. 

Although the Netherlands proper produces no 
coffee, yet we have imported from this country 
almost 6,000,000 pounds in a single year. Can you 
explain this? If you can recall which country owns 
the rich East India islands, Sumatra and Java, 
your answer will be easy. 

Brazil raises three fourths of the world's supply 
of coffee, producing more than 1,800,000,000 pounds 
in one year. Venezuela, with a yearly crop of 
96,000,000 pounds, is the second largest producer, 
and Colombia, with 92,500,000 pounds to her credit, 
is the third. Guatemala grew about 89,000,000 
pounds in one year and Mexico about 65,000,000 
in the same period. These countries sold us about 



376 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



the following quantities of coffee: Brazil, 743,000,000 
pounds; Colombia, 91,000,000 pounds; Venezuela, 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

Drying coffee in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As the method of curing and 

handling the beans greatly influences the flavor of coffee, 

this work must be done with care 

50,000,000 pounds; Mexico, 49,500,000 pounds; and 
Guatemala, 25,000,000 pounds. Ask your family 
grocer about the average retail price of coffee in 
this country and with these figures you can make 
a very fair estimate of our national coffee bill. The 
sum will mount high into the millions, and will 
give you an idea of the tremendous importance 
of coffee among our foods. 

How altitude influences coffee. "Coffee," says 
an expert who has many times visited all the great 



COFFEE 377 

coffee- growing centers, "is perhaps the most sensi- 
tive of foods. It is influenced by many things — by 
climate, soil, and method of cultivation, by the 
manner of picking, curing, handling, blending, 
roasting, grinding, and brewing it for the table. 

"Perhaps the most noticeable feature in the raising 
of coffee is the great influence that altitude has upon 
the berry. The better grades of coffee, those grades 
that carry the exquisite flavor and strength of the 
best product, are raised in the highlands, while the 
less desirable grades are raised in the lowlands. The 
best coffee grows at an altitude of from 2,500 to 
3,000 feet above sea level. The growth in the low- 
lands is ranker and the strength goes more into the 
foliage, while the hardy plants of the uplands put 
the snap and freshness of their crisp climate into 
the berries. Therefore we find the best coffee grown 
in Colombia — for the coffee lands of that country 
have the highest average altitude. 

"The average coffee consumer, however, does not 
care to have a single grade of coffee served him, as it 
often proves to be too strong or too rich, too weak or 
too acid. That is why coffees grown in the lower 
altitudes are blended with those from the highlands. 

Occupation descends from father to son. "An- 
other interesting feature in the coffee industry is 
found in the fact that, like the making of cheese, 
the raising of coffee is an art that is handed down 
from father to son. There is this difference, how- 
ever, that the sons usually go to America or to France 
to broaden their education. They go there to learn 
the most modern methods of financing their busi- 
ness, of marketing their product, and of meeting 
the varying requirements of foreign customers.' '■ 



Chapter XXIV 

TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 

The symbol of hospitality. Tea is undoubtedly 
the most interesting of all our table drinks. Cer- 
tainly it is more closely connected with social life 
than any other beverage we use. A cup of tea is 
the symbol of hospitality in the British Empire, 
China, Japan, Russia, and the United States. In 
England and America, at least, tea has lent its name 
to both a family meal and a formal social gathering. 
It is so securely grafted into the speech of the tea- 
drinking countries that children understand the 
social significance of tea serving before they are 
allowed to become familiar with the taste of tea 
itself. It is safe to say that, in any of the countries 
named, there are few little girls old enough to play 
by themselves with whom a make-believe "tea 
party" is not a favorite amusement. 

While tea is distinctly the beverage of fashion, and 
may be said to typify the highest refinement of 
social life as it centers about the table, it also distills 
the "fragrance of hospitality" in cottage and in 
cabin. To brew a cup of tea for a caller is the 
nearest approach to a social function that the mis- 
tress of many a thatched cottage ever makes. There 
is scarcely a family in any English-speaking country, 
in Russia, or in any oriental land so poor that it 
cannot offer a "sup" of tea for the refreshment of 
the honored guest. 

An inexpensive drink. Perhaps one reason for its 
popularity lies in the fact that tea is so inexpensive. 

378 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 



379 



An American expert who has an almost world-wide 
reputation as an authority on tea declares that it is 



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- -4 't -Jm 






■, ' 








Steaming tea in Japan. The first step in the sterilizing of tea 

"the most inexpensive, the most sanitary, and, in 
the United States, the purest beverage to be had." 
Many people would say that it is also the most 
delicious. But that is a matter of individual taste. 

This expert declares that from 250 to 300 cups of 
tea, of the proper strength to obtain the best "bou- 
quet" or flavor, can be made from a pound of any 
tea of fair quality. Most of the well-known teas 
brew an average of 276 cups. In the United States, 
he estimates, the average retail price for tea is sixty 
cents a pound. Under these conditions the cost of 
a cup of tea would be a little more than a fifth of 
a cent. 

His statement that tea is the most sanitary of 
table drinks is based on the fact that no tea reaches 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 381 

the lips of the consumer until it has been thoroughly 
sterilized. It is first sterilized when steamed to 
prevent fermentation, again when fired in the dry- 
ing process, and finally when boiling water is poured 
upon it to prepare it for serving. 

Tea a good traveler. There is scarcely another 
thing served at our tables that can be more safely and 
conveniently shipped long distances than tea, for tea 
is a good traveler. When drinking a cup of black 
tea, did you ever ask yourself how far it had jour- 
neyed to meet your demand for a delicate, fragrant 
table drink? Let us suppose you live in about the 
center of our country, say in Omaha, Nebraska. If 
the tea served you is a black or mixed tea, it was 
undoubtedly taken first to England, where the 
greatest tea-importing houses are located. If this 
is true then it would go by way of Colombo, Ceylon, 
to Aden, Arabia; to Plymouth, England; to New 
York and thence to Omaha by rail, traveling about 
10,900 miles. If the tea came by way of San 
Francisco it would leave Colombo, Ceylon, for Hong 
Kong, China; from Hong Kong it would journey to 
San Francisco and from there to Omaha by rail, a 
distance of about 11,100 miles. So, you see, tea 
from the port of Ceylon might be shipped into 
Omaha, either from the east or from the west, the 
difference between the two shipping routes being 
only about 200 miles. 

We must bear in mind that foods do not travel 
"as the crow flies," but must take the routes selected 
by the navigators and the importers. Unlike the 
two routes to Omaha, sometimes the difference in 
the length of the journeys may be thousands instead 
of hundreds of miles. 



382 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Chinese tea traditions. Now let us consider tea 
in the light of its traditions, its history, and its 

sources of supply. The 
use of tea has been 
handed down to us 
from ages unknown. 
As in the case of cof- 
fee, there are various 
stories concerning its 
discovery. Among 
Chinese traditions 
is one telling how, in 
ancient times, tea was 
first steeped by Bud- 
dhist priests to alter the 
unpleasant taste of the 
brackish water they 
were obliged to drink. 
Another tells how, 
almost three thousand years before Christ, Chin- 
Nung, a Chinese scholar and philosopher, learned 
the value of tea. Once, when putting a branch of 
the tea shrub on his fire he knocked some of the 
leaves into a pot of boiling water and accidentally 
" brewed" the first cup of tea. He found the drink 
so pleasing that he formed the habit of using it. He 
confided his discovery to his friends and their experi- 
ments with the leaf were so successful that its use 
very soon became common throughout the empire. 
Spreading the use of tea. While some people 
claim that tea was first raised for commercial pur- 
poses in India or Japan, it is generally conceded that 
the tea industry began in China and was later 
established in other countries. 




Leaves, seeds, and flowers of the 
tea plant 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 383 

The Dutch East India Company introduced tea 
into the Netherlands early in the seventeenth cen- 
tury. It reached England as early as 1657 and was 
shipped by the English to the American colonies in 
1680. At that time it was selling at five dollars 
a pound and upwards, according to the quality. 

At first tea was not favorably received. Its use 
was condemned by writers, educators, and clergy- 
men as a heathenish and immoral practice. In 
England especially the drinking of tea was bitterly 
attacked. In 1678, Mr. Henry Sevile, in writing to 
his uncle, names certain friends as among those "who 
call for tea, instead of pipes and bottles after dinner 
— a base, unworthy Indian practice which I must ever 
admire your most Christian family for not admitting." 
And he concludes, "the truth is, all nations are 
growing so wicked as to have some of these filthy 
customs." Members of the medical profession 
classed tea as a drug and placed it on a par with 
opium and morphine. Much of this censure no 
doubt arose because royalty frowned upon the 
beverage. However, there were men of distinction 
who defended the oriental table drink. The great 
Dr. Johnson was one of these early champions of tea. 

In spite of all disapproval the use of tea grew with 
remarkable rapidity and seems never to have lost 
any ground once gained. The United States alone 
now uses about 100,000,000 pounds of tea a year. 
Of this our merchants import about 45 per cent 
from Japan, 25 per cent from China, and 15 per cent 
from England, which in turn imports it from Ceylon 
and British India. 

Tea gardens and tea drinkers. Tea is produced 
in India, China, Ceylon, Japan, Taiwan (Formosa, 



384 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



now a part of Japan), Java, Russia, and even to 
a limited extent in the United States. From our 




Shipping tea. The tea is loaded into large scow-like boats which 
carry it out to ocean steamers bound for far-distant ports 

government reports we learn that the world con- 
sumes more than 800,000,000 pounds of tea a year. 
This does not include the large amount used locally 
in the producing countries, figures for which cannot 
be secured. Of this 800,000,000 pounds more than 
291,000,000 pounds are produced in India; over 
200,000,000 pounds in Ceylon; about 200,000,000 
pounds in China; 80,000,000 pounds in Japan 
and Taiwan; and 60,000,000 pounds in Java. The 
one tea garden of the United States, at Summer- 
ville, South Carolina, yields about 15,000 pounds 
a year. 

Great Britain consumes more tea than any other 
country, using more than 300,000,000 pounds a 
year. Individually the British are the greatest 
tea drinkers, the yearly average for each person 
being about 7.5 pounds of tea. Russia also is a 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 385 

large consumer of tea but is exceeded by both the 
Netherlands and the British colonies — Australia 
and Canada. 

All teas belong to two general classes, green and 
black. These two classes really include three kinds 
of tea: the unfermented, or green tea, which comes 
from China, Japan, and — a small portion — from 
India and Ceylon; the oolong, from China and Tai- 
wan, which is partly fermented before being fired; 
and the fermented, or black teas, which come from 
China, Ceylon, India, and Java. Originally there 
were many times as much green tea sold as black, 
but of late years the black teas of Ceylon and India 
are replacing the Chinese and Japanese green teas 
in almost every country. In England scarcely any 
green tea is sold, but here where black teas are 
most popular, each year the sales are becoming 
larger. As a result the tea industry in China is 
steadily diminishing, while in India and Ceylon it 
is increasing rapidly. 

A visit to a Japanese tea garden. A tea garden is 
one of the most interesting places that the traveler 
in the Orient can visit. Let us imagine that we are 
walking through a tea garden near Kyoto, Japan. 
In the distance high, tree-clad hills stand out against 
the deep blue of the sky. A little closer extends a 
range of lower shaggy, bush-covered hills, and nestling 
at the foot of these is a cluster of quaint, odd-shaped 
little houses with roofs of tile. These are the factories 
and dwelling houses belonging to the tea gardens. In 
the foreground are acres of waist-high green bushes. 
Among these bushes are working scores of kimono- 
clad pickers. Each picker has a big light-weight 
basket. There are many children working among 

25 



386 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



the tea shrubs, for the picking of tea, in Japan, as 
in all oriental countries, is the task of women and 




Picking tea in Japan. This work, which requires keen eyesight 
and nimble fingers, is nearly all done by women and children 

children. They are very deft in this work, the 
principal requirements of which are quickness of 
eye and nimbleness of fingers. The skilled hands 
of the pickers skim over the bushes, hovering for 
an instant above a new "flush" - — a bud and three 
or four tender leaves. With a single motion they 
pluck from it only the top two or three leaves. 

It is almost impossible to realize how vital to the 
quality of tea is the selection of the time for picking. 
It requires an expert to decide when the leaves 
should be picked, and should his calculation prove 
wrong it would work serious injury to the entire 
harvest. If they are not picked at the proper 
time, the choicest leaves may deteriorate in a night 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 387 

or two from the highest quality to an extremely 
inferior grade of tea. 

The care with which these pickers work is sur- 
prising. The task of picking tea is an exacting one. 
The leaves must be nipped off cleanly, without 
bruising or breaking the stem or stalk. These 
Japanese pickers receive from ten to fifteen cents a 
day, according to their skill. To us this seems a 
very small wage, until we remember that ten cents 
will buy far more in the Orient than in America. 
The negro children who pick tea in the gardens at 
Summerville are paid about twenty-five cents a day. 

The Emperor's garden. A special tea is grown 
under cover for the Emperor of Japan. The tea 
garden is screened to shut off the sunlight from the 
plants. This makes the leaves very silky and larger 
in average size than other leaves. Tea grown in 
such a manner would naturally be very expensive. 

Difference between green and black tea. ^The 
same kind of tea leaf can be used for the manu- 
facture of either green or black tea, the difference 
in the two teas lying merely in the process of curing. 
At present little black tea is produced in Japan, 
but experiments looking to its production there are 
now being carried on. 

In producing green tea the leaf is sterilized by 
steam. This prevents oxidizing or fermentation of 
the leaf, which retains its green color, and when boil- 
ing water is poured over it the result is a green or 
greenish-yellow liquid. In manufacturing black tea 
the leaf is allowed to ferment, which changes its 
color from green to very dark brown. In the case 
of oolong, or semi-fermented tea, the fermentation 
is allowed to reach a certain desired point. 



388 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Curing green tea. In the tea garden near Kyoto, 
we should find the natives curing green tea. After 




irown Bros. 

Spreading the tea leaves in the drying house. The method of drying 

the tea leaves with hot air is now very generally 

displacing that of sun drying 

it is picked, the first step in the manufacture of tea is 
the steaming. While in China large quantities of 
tea are still sun-dried in shallow bamboo trays, in 
Japan more modern methods are employed for drying 
tea. There it is done almost wholly by hot air in neat 
drying houses especially designed for this purpose. 
The next step is firing. In Japan, the tea is 
placed in large shallow pans over charcoal furnaces, 
where it is kept in motion by constant stirring. 
In China the tea is put into large metal bowls, 
under which burn charcoal fires, and is kept in 
motion until properly fired. 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 389 

As it is being fired, the tea is also curled — either 
by machinery or by being rolled between the palms 
of the curlers' hands. All this is done by the grower, 
who ships the tea to a central market where the 
factory fires it again to arrest fermentation and 
to fix the green color. Then the tea is ready 
for export. If the leaves are not thoroughly 
dried they are inclined to ferment and turn black. 
In a long, shedlike room are great piles of cured 
tea leaves, which are screened through various sieves 
and in this way cleaned and sorted according to 
grades. 

In China and Japan almost the entire work of 
picking, curing, and sorting tea is done by hand. 
In China much of the hand work in tea curing is 
unnecessary and in spite of the low wages paid the 
laborers could be done better and perhaps more 
cheaply by machinery. But in Ceylon and India 
— although there, too, labor can be had for a few 
cents a day — the British have installed machines for 
the greater part of this work. Consequently if we 
were to visit a large Ceylon tea garden we should 
find conditions quite different, at least as far as 
curing the leaf is concerned. Such a garden and 
its factories would probably be owned and operated 
by a large English corporation. 

Learning tea culture secrets. For many years 
the Chinese carefully guarded the secret of tea culti- 
vation, hoping that by so doing they could retain 
the world's trade. They contended that it would 
not be possible to grow tea successfully in any other 
country. Finally some English horticulturists dis- 
covered wild tea shrubs in Assam, India. This con- 
vinced them that tea could be successfully grown 



390 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



there, and they began the study of tea culture. Then 
certain adventurous Englishmen went to China, 
braving many dangers, and finally succeeded in 
dispelling the mystery which the Chinese had woven 
about the culture of tea. 

They learned that, while tea was a hardy plant 
that would grow in poor and sandy soil, its quality 




Copyright jy H. C. White Co. 

In Japan the dried tea leaves are sifted through screens of 
different sizes to clean and sort them according to grade 

was greatly influenced by soil and weather condi- 
tions. They learned, too, that while it could be 



TEA -THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 



391 



grown in a dry climate, when the rainfall came with 
reasonable regularity the plants put forth more 




Transplanting tea. The seedlings grown under shade in nurseries are 
planted out in the gardens when about six or eight inches high 

new shoots and the leaves were richer in flavor 
and more elastic. They also learned that the soil 
had a great deal to do with the size and yield of the 
shrub and that the location of the plantation or 
garden counted for much. Further search showed 
that, in spite of general reports to the contrary, the 
Chinese did fertilize their gardens and fertilize them 
generously. 

Establishing tea culture in India. History tells 
us that in the year 1832 the governor-general of 
India appointed a committee to introduce the culture 
of tea into India. This was one of the most impor- 
tant events in the history of modern India. An 
official was sent to China to procure seed, and skilled 



392 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Chinese workmen to establish plantations in the 
Himalayan regions. Then the East India Com- 
pany began many experiments in tea culture. In 
the year 1836 one pound of tea was sent from Assam 
to London, in the following year five pounds more 
were sent, and in 1839 ninety-five boxes. In Janu- 
ary, 1840, the Assam Company was formed and from 
that time on the cultivation of tea in India was a 
private industry. 

A failure and a success. After 1840 both the 
English and Dutch attempted to introduce tea into 
Ceylon. They were unsuccessful until the year 
1876, when the failure of the coffee crop compelled 
the planters to turn their attention to tea. Since 
that time the tea industry has made wonderful 
strides in Ceylon. In fact, Ceylon tea has done 
quite as much to make that island famous as have 
its spices and coffee. 

Experiments in other lands. Our own govern- 
ment also has experimented with the cultivation of 
tea, and in 1880 sent to India and secured a planter 
of fourteen years' experience to take charge of its 
experimental work. More recently the Department 
of Agriculture has co-operated with Dr. Charles U. 
Shepard, a private citizen who has a small tea gar- 
den near Summerville. This garden contains about 
sixty acres. Dr. Shepard started his Pinehurst Tea 
Garden or plantation in 1890 and has proved that 
tea can be grown successfully in our own Southern 
States. The present yield is about 15,000 pounds a 
year. It seems unlikely that much progress will 
be made in tea growing on a commercial scale 
here because of the relatively high cost of labor. 

Successful experiments in tea culture have also 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 393 

been carried on in Brazil, in Australia, and in Natal, 
South Africa. 

Two practices in tea picking. Owing to distinct 
climatic differences, the calendar of tea picking in 
Ceylon differs from that in China and Japan. 
Tea is picked only three times a year in China and 
Japan, while in India, Ceylon, and Java it is picked 
every seven to ten days, throughout the season. 
Under this practice the bushes are gone over about 
twenty times as against three times in Japan and 
China. The bushes in Ceylon have to be pruned 
back and rested about every fourth year as an 
equivalent of the winter rest which the bushes get 
in northern tea-growing countries. 

A Ceylon tea garden. In Ceylon the pickers are 
dark-skinned Tamil coolies brought over from 
India. They are usually clad in two pieces of 
bright cloth, one for the waist and the other for 
the skirt. With every crew of pickers one will see 
a partially clothed cangany, or taskmaster, who 
invariably carries a gay-colored parasol. 

Now suppose we visit a Ceylon garden and see 
how it differs from the Japanese garden. At first 
glance we notice that the garden is situated on three 
sandy hills, between which the river winds and twists. 
At the extreme south is a stone power plant perched 
on the bank of the river. This plant furnishes 
electricity to the modern buildings in the garden. 
Beyond we see the bright dresses of the pickers as 
they move slowly to and fro among the green shrubs 
of the garden, while a vivid sunshade bobbing up 
here and there discloses the presence of the ever- 
watchful cangany. 

If you were walking through this garden, quite 



394 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



likely you would see many of the slender, dark- 
skinned, black-haired Tamil women pickers tightly 




Picking tea in a Ceylon tea garden. A bright sunshade discloses the 
presence of the cangany, or overseer 

wrapped in enormous lengths of cotton cloth of 
various shades and patterns. No doubt they would 
be highly decked out with brass jewelry. By means 
of a cord passed over the head they carry on their 
backs large cane baskets. This manner of carrying 
the basket permits the free use of both hands 
for picking. Each basket holds fourteen pounds of 
tea, and a coolie is expected to pick three baskets 
of tea leaves a day. 

Curing black tea. The first step in the manu- 
facture of black tea is the withering. This is done 
in a large, light, airy, clean room, down the center 
of which extend two rows of adjustable frames or 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 



395 



racks. In these racks are innumerable shelves with 
jute-Hessian or wire bottoms, upon which have been 
lightly scattered freshly picked tea leaves from 
thousands of baskets. Here the leaves are left to 
wither for eighteen to twenty hours, in order 
to allow the sap and other moisture to evaporate. 
Then begins the second process of manufacture — 
"rolling" or curling. 

One can almost step from the door of the wither- 
ing house to that of the rolling house. This house 
contains five rollers; beside each roller, on a small 
square box, stands a native clad only in a white 
cloth wrapped about his loins. The leaves are put 
through the rotary rollers to give them a good 




Brown Bros. 

Ceylon natives sorting tea. A Ceylon tea picker is expected to gather 
three basketfuls, or forty-two pounds, of tea leaves a day 

twist. Here may be seen a large motor driving 
many modern machines. The rolling room is 



396 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



whitewashed throughout and, like all the other 
buildings, lighted by electricity. 

Fermenting is the third process in the production 
of black tea. The rolled leaves are spread on the 
floor and covered with wet cloths. Here they are 
allowed to remain until they turn a bright coppery 
color. 

The next step is the firing. In the firing room 
may be seen a number of odd oven-shaped machines. 
Before each machine stands a half-naked attendant, 
and hurrying from machine to machine is a white 
man, dressed like a chef. A number of barefoot 
natives, each carrying a wire tray filled with tea 
leaves, glide noiselessly across the stone floor. The 
trays are quickly slipped into the machines, or 



m *. I i I « I . 



% f mm '** 




Sorting tea by mechanical sifters into grades and qualities known as 
pekoe, orange pekoe, pekoe souchong, and souchong 

furnace, and the heavy door closed. A current of 
hot air is passed through the machines to dry the tea. 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 



397 



When the tea is removed it is brittle and black. 
It is now ready for the final process of sifting. There 
are a number of different kinds of sifters, all driven 
by electric power. The 
largest is something 
like our old-style grain 
separators, and con- 
sists of a half dozen 
vibrating trays, each 
fitted with a screen 
having a different 
mesh. The different 
grades of tea run from 
the separator through 
various short spouts 
into boxes which are 
removed by workmen 
as fast as they are 
filled. Here are sorted 
all the commercial grades of tea known as " broken 
orange pekoe," "orange pekoe," "pekoe," "pekoe 
souchong," "souchong," "fannings," and "dust." 

"Russian tea." We hear much of Russian tea; 
but there is only one real Russian tea and that 
comes from the Imperial Domains estates at Chakva, 
near Batum. The original plants on these estates 
were brought from China. Although Russia is a 
large consumer of tea, only a very small portion of 
its supply is raised at home. The term "Russian 
tea," as commonly used, refers to a black tea served 
as the Russians serve it, and not to tea grown in 
Russia. 

How the government protects the consumer. 
Considerable adulteration is practiced in the tea 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Russian tea drinkers 



398 THE STORY OF FOODS 

industry of the Orient. The cheap grades of tea 
used in China and also in Europe are colored with 
Prussian blue, gypsum, soapstone, turmeric, and other 
coloring matter. Tea exporters have even resorted 
to the use of paraffin to preserve the tea. The 
United States government does noc allow such tea 
to enter this country for sale. As early as 1883, the 
United States passed a law governing the sale of 
tea and in 1897 this law was perfected. 

The quality and grades of teas that may be im- 
ported into this country are determined by a board 
of seven tea experts. They select certain teas to 
be used as standards with which all imported teas 
must be compared. As the supervising tea expert 
puts it: "The government officially furnishes the 
'yardstick' with which the quality and fitness for 
consumption of all teas imported into the United 
States are measured." 

These standards, or "measuring sticks," consist 
of half-pound packages of tea conforming exactly 
to the requirements of the law. They are sent to 
every United States tea examiner and are also dis- 
tributed to American tea importers. The importers 
send them to their buyers in the Far East, so that 
they may purchase only the teas that conform to 
the official standards. In this way the public is 
carefully protected against inferior teas. 

No artificially colored tea is allowed to come into 
this country for sale. A simple and effective test, 
known as the Read test, is used to determine 
whether or not artificial coloring has been added to 
tea. This test was discovered by a woman, Dr. 
Alberta Read. The specification for this test says 
that a certain quantity of the dust of the tea under 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 399 

examination shall be sifted upon a semi-glazed white 
paper and crushed with a steel spatula. ' The dust 
shall then be brushed off and the paper examined 
with a magnifying glass for streaks of coloring 
matter. If, in the opinion of the examiner, the tea 
under test contains coloring matter, the test paper, 
as well as a sample of the tea itself, is sent to a chem- 
ist for analysis. Artificially colored teas were freely 
imported into this country until our government 
established this board of tea experts. The Read 
test used with black paper will detect the "fac- 
ings" — or foreign matter used to improve the 
appearance — such as talc, gypsum, barium, sul- 
phate, and clay, which are sometimes used with 
green tea. 

Tea is also tested for its flavor or "bouquet." 
One test for strength and flavor is known as the cup 
test. This test consists of drawing and brewing a 
quantity of tea equal in weight to a silver half dime, 
and comparing it with the same quantity of the 
standard or "measuring stick" tea, which it must 
equal as to bouquet, body, taste, and appearance 
of the leaf that has been infused. 

If an imported tea falls short of the standard in 
a single respect, that is sufficient cause for its rejec- 
tion. When a tea is condemned by an examiner it 
cannot be released from the bonded warehouse, 
where all teas must go on entering this country. 
If condemned tea is released it is in order that it 
may be immediately sent back home or destroyed. 
Our government takes these steps to prevent its 
sale in this country. Poor grades of tea are used 
chiefly in Asia and Europe. But not a pound can 
be sold in the United States. Every shipment of 



400 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



tea which is allowed to leave the bonded ware- 
houses has been favorably compared with the 




€ 



j 



FT* 9 




Packing tea in Ceylon. Laws made by the United States government 
regarding teas imported into this country have raised the 
standard of teas and brought about many improve- 
ments in the handling of tea in the Orient 

official standards. In other words, our country 
gets the cleanest and purest teas of any country in 
the world, because our laws, as enforced, will admit 
no others. 

Inspection by the United States government has 
notably raised the standard of the teas imported into 
this country. More than this, it has had a whole- 
some effect in the Orient. When the big growers 
found that certain reforms in handling and preparing 
their teas were necessary in order to make their 
product meet official standards in the United States, 
naturally the improvement also affected teas going 
to other countries. It is gratifying to know that 



TEA — THE WORLD'S SOCIAL DRINK 401 

in much the same way the United States is raising 
the standards of wholesomeness and cleanliness of 
many other foods grown and prepared in foreign 
lands. 

Brewing tea the government way. Among other 
things, the government has determined just the 
proper length of time to brew tea, and why. On an 
average, a three-minute infusion in boiling water 
has been found to produce the best results. This is 
because in that length of time most of the theine — 
the desirable element — which lies in the skin or outer 
part of the leaf, is extracted, and very little of the 
tannin — an undesirable element found in the inner 
tissue of the leaf — is drawn out by the brew. 

Teas cured and prepared where grown. Except 
that much mixing or blending is done in the great 
tea-exporting houses of England, all the curing and 
preparing of teas takes place in the countries where 
they are grown. Tea is delivered to the American 
consumer just as it is shipped from the tea gardens, 
except that it is repacked in convenient, sanitary, 
flavor-retaining tins and boxes. This brings the 
teas to the home in packages containing from a 
quarter of a pound to five pounds, and assures the 
housewife that she is receiving a product of uniform 
quality and blend. 



26 



Chapter XXV 

TABLE DRINKS 

Cocoa, a popular drink. One of the most delicious 
of all table drinks, cocoa — a favorite with children 
in every part of the world, especially in Europe — 
has a history that reaches back to the Spanish con- 
quest of Mexico and contains many dark and for- 
bidding chapters. Not even the spice trade of the 
South Seas has a wilder background of romance, 
adventure, and sacrifice of human life than has the 
cocoa traffic. 

Long before Columbus discovered this continent 
the natives of Mexico and Peru were enjoying the 
delicious and wholesome beverage made from the 
cocoa bean. The Spanish conquerors of Mexico, 
who followed Columbus, found the natives culti- 
vating extensive plantations of cocoa. Tradition 
tells us the emperor Montezuma was a lover of cocoa 
and consumed many jars of the drink each day. 
There can be no question that it was highly appre- 
ciated by the ancient semi-civilized races that 
nourished in Central America. 

Christopher Columbus is said to have been the 
first to bring a knowledge of this remarkable article 
of food to Europe. But it was not until later that 
the use of cocoa became a common custom in Spain 
and Portugal. It was introduced by the Castilians 
(Spaniards) into many other countries. But because 
of Spain's monopoly of the cocoa industry the price 
demanded when it was first introduced into England 
was so high that only the very rich could afford it. 

402 



TABLE DRINKS 403 

Cocoa is at once a food and a drink, its popularity 
being indicated by the variety of its uses. Cocoa, 




Natives gathering cocoa pods. Note the curious way in which the 
pods grow on the bare trunk and larger branches of the tree 

or chocolate, is used at the soda fountain, as a candy, 
as a drink, as a flavoring, for cooking and baking 
purposes, and, finally, as a condensed food. 

The real name of this popular food is ' 'cacao," 
the term " cocoa," now so commonly used, being a 
corruption of the correct name. Usage, however, 
has established the practice of applying the term 
" cacao" to the tree and to the unbroken fruit, while 
the bean, whether whole or crushed, is called cocoa. 

Chocolate is so much more generally used than 
commercial cocoa that the distinction between these 
two forms of the same food is not understood by most 



404 THE STORY OF FOODS 

consumers. Both are prepared from the bean of 
the cacao tree, but chocolate is made from the meal 
of the bean after it has been roasted and ground, 
before its rich oils are extracted. It is almost 
always sold in cake form and may be bought plain, 
sweetened, or flavored, according to the purpose for 
which it is to be used. 

Cocoa is the powdered form of the crushed, roasted 
cocoa bean, from which most of the heavy oil found 
in chocolate has been extracted. As a table drink 
for the home this is undoubtedly the most popular 
preparation made from the fruit of the cacao tree. 

Some people, however, prefer to have their break- 
fast drink made from what is called cocoa nibs or 
cracked beans because the latter contain more oil 
than ordinary cocoa. Although these are cheaper, 
it requires more time and it is more trouble to make 
a drink from them than from ground cocoa. 

As bran is removed from the wheat kernel, so the 
shell or husk is taken from the cocoa bean. Many 
persons of delicate digestion find wheat bran a food 
that they can easily assimilate. So, too, many who 
find cocoa or chocolate a little heavy for their use, 
brew a light but delicious drink from the cocoa 
shells. The shells are very cheap and are sometimes 
used as food for cattle. 

Cocoa is grown in many countries, among which 
are the British Gold Coast colony, Africa, Ecuador, 
Brazil, Ceylon, Java, the Portuguese colony of St. 
Thomas, Venezuela, Trinidad, Santo Domingo, and 
practically all the other islands of the West Indies. 

It is estimated that early in the nineteenth century 
about 23,000,000 pounds of cocoa were consumed 
each year, one third of which was used in Spain. 



TABLE DRINKS 



405 



The annual consumption of cocoa in Europe at 
the present time is about 225,000,000 pounds. 




Brown Bros. 

Cocoa pods and beans. The great pods are from seven to twelve 

inches long and contain from twenty-Jive to fifty 

beans about the size of almonds 

The United States uses about 140,000,000 pounds 
of cocoa in a normal year, being the largest cocoa- 
consuming country in the world. 

How the cocoa beans grow. The cocoa beans or 
seeds grow in large pods, of varying shapes and 
sizes, averaging about nine inches in length and four 
inches in diameter at the thickest part. These 
pods somewhat resemble one of our long, deeply 
ribbed cantaloupes. They have hard, leathery rinds 
of a dark yellow or yellowish-brown color, which 
inclose a mass of pink pulp in which the beans are 
embedded. Each pod contains from twenty-five 
to fifty beans. The beans are about the size of 
an ordinary almond. When fresh they are white 
and have a decidedly bitter and disagreeable flavor. 
After- the beans are dried they turn a reddish 
brown. 



406 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



The cacao tree bears its fruit in an odd and inter- 
esting way. The pods grow directly out of the 




Removing the cocoa beans from the pods 

bare trunk and larger branches of the tree, and not 
on the younger branches among the foliage, as do 
other fruits. 

The cacao pickers or gatherers are armed with 
long bamboo poles, at the end of which are fastened 
big, odd-shaped blades. Only the ripe pods are 
cut, and as their stems are very tough, it requires 
a strong, well-aimed blow to sever them. The 
gatherers must have more than ordinary physical 
strength and endurance, for the knife poles are 
sometimes thirty feet long and are extremely awk- 
ward to handle. 

As fast as the pods are brought down by the 
knife-men, they are piled in heaps. The following 
day, usually, the pods are cut open with a very 



TABLE DRINKS 



407 



sharp knife, a process which requires great care to 
avoid injuring the beans. After the beans are hulled 
they are carried in baskets to the curing station. 
Here the acid juice is drained off and the beans placed 
in fermenting boxes, where they are allowed to 
remain for some time. Another method of fermen- 
tation, known as " claying, " is extremely interesting. 




| lwlffl i i™M 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Curing cocoa on an Ecuador plantation. Enough cocoa beans are in 

sight in the drying yard to make more than two hundred 

thousand pounds of chocolate 

The beans are put into holes in the ground and 
covered with clay. Under this method, however, 



408 THE STORY OF FOODS 

there is always danger that the beans will ferment 
too rapidly. Only experts are able to handle them 
by this process without great loss. The beans are 
fermented in order to enable them to absorb certain 
properties of the pulp. If fermentation is not suc- 
cessful the bean are considered improperly cured 
and are sold as a second-grade product. Well- 
fermented beans are of a rich, reddish-brown color. 

Drying the beans. Following fermentation the 
beans are placed on broad cement or bamboo floors 
and allowed to dry in the sun. In some parts of 
South America, in the cleared center of a plantation, 
which is really a tropical forest, one may see immense 
floors of this sort, evenly strewn with drying beans. 
After the beans are dried they are put into bags 
and sent to the various markets as crude cocoa. 

At the cocoa factory. At the cocoa and choco- 
late manufacturing plants the beans are first cleaned 
and sorted and then roasted. As with coffee, the 
roasting of the cocoa bean has much to do with its 
flavor. Too little roasting leaves the beans heavy 
and flavorless, while too much roasting turns them 
bitter. The roasting machine keeps the beans in con- 
stant motion while they are being fired. This opera- 
tion usually requires about thirty-five minutes. 

After they have been roasted the beans are 
passed to a machine that cracks the shells and 
breaks the beans into small fragments. These are 
next put through a fanner which separates the hull 
from the broken bean. Then comes the grinder 
in which the cracked beans are ground to a soft, 
oily mass, from which part of the oil is pressed in 
the making of powdered cocoa. Monster steel mills 
have replaced the shallow stones that were used to 



TABLE DRINKS 



409 



crush the cocoa bean at the time of the Spanish 
Conquest. Cocoa, like coffee, is blended and for the 




Brown Bros. 



A busy day in a cocoa factory. Cleaning and sorting cocoa 
beans for the roasting machines 

same reason: to obtain a combination which will give 
the finest flavor and aroma. 

Cocoa beans as money. In the early days in the 
tropics cocoa beans were used, to some extent, as a 
standard of value in place of money. We are told 
that this primitive kind of coin is still current in an 
isolated part of Southern Mexico. A common ex- 
pression for cheap articles in the market is that so 
many sell for a "cinco. " This, it is said, originally 
meant five cocoa beans ; but in order to allow for the 
fluctuating value of the bean, a "cinco" usually con- 
sists of from two to five cocoa beans. The money 
value of a "cinco" is about one half cent, Mexican. 



410 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Food value of cocoa. Scientists and medical 

writers have much to say regarding the food value 

of cocoa. They tell us it is highly nourishing and 

easily digested; that it repairs wasted strength 

quickly; and that it is uncommonly wholesome. In 

Central America, when expeditions are organized to 

traverse the forest and swamps and follow rivers 

into the heart of the jungles, it is usual to include 

in their rather scanty commissary a generous supply 

of chocolate, consisting of about 80 per cent cocoa 

and 20 per cent coarse sugar. The food value of 

this is about as follows: 

Sugar 20 per cent 

Fat 41 per cent 

Albumen 10 per cent 

Phosphates and salts 3 per cent 

Other matter 26 per cent 

Cocoa in some of its forms is used by several 
South American nations as a solid food much as we 
use bread and meat, and not at all as a dainty or a 
confection. 

Other beverages. Although the people of the 
United States consume about 1,000,000,000 pounds 
of coffee a year, 140,000,000 pounds of cocoa, and 
100,000,000 pounds of tea, that immense total is 
not enough, either in volume or in variety, to meet 
the American demand for a breakfast beverage. 

In addition to the products of the tea gardens of 
the Far East and the coffee and cocoa plantations 
of the tropics, we must look to our own grain fields 
to furnish still further variety in the way of table 
drinks. 

Practically all our grains are used for this pur- 
pose. In varying quantities we find wheat, rye, 
rice, barley, corn, and malt used in this way. With 



TABLE DRINKS 



411 



some of these grains molasses, coffee, chicory, peas, 
and peanuts are combined in order to obtain the 




Roasting grains in a factory which turns out one of our most 
popular table drinks 

desired flavor. The value of these various substi- 
tute drinks depends, of course, upon the percentage 
of the grains or other substances used. It is true 
that they do not contain the stimulative properties 
of tea, coffee, and cocoa, but they have an aroma 
and a pleasant flavor of their own and are agree- 
able and wholesome. For these reasons they are 
acceptable to a considerable number of American 
people and the number of their users is undoubtedly 
increasing. 

Grape juice is another drink that has won popular 
favor in this country. It is pure fruit juice, ex- 
tracted from ripe grapes and sterilized to prevent fer- 
mentation. The people of the United States drink 
about 5,000,000 gallons of grape juice a year. 



Chapter XXVI 

NUTS 

Nuts as a food. There is hardly an American 
boy or girl living in the country to-day or a man 
or woman whose childhood was spent there who does 
not think of "going nutting" as one of the pleas- 
antest of all country pastimes. But of the many 
people who treasure memories of the fun they have 
had gathering nuts few ever think of nuts as a 
"real food," as having any real part to play in the 
food supply of this nation. The people of the 
United States — and especially our country people 
— have come to think of nuts almost wholly as a 
dainty, something to be eaten for their delicious 
taste and not as substantial food. 

Piecing out the pioneer larder. The early settlers 
in the wooded sections of the United States were 
often forced to eat nuts, not as a delicacy to be 
nibbled daintily, but as a means of supporting life 
until they could raise a supply of grains, vegetables, 
and fruits. In nearly every part of the timber 
country, nut trees grew wild and nuts could be had 
abundantly merely for the gathering. Many pio- 
neers would have had much less to eat and some of 
them would have perished without the wild nuts 
only waiting to be harvested. For this reason the 
early settlers knew, better than the people of to-day, 
how useful nuts are and how they may be made to 
help out in the family living. Undoubtedly these 
settlers would have made greater use of this food, 
had they understood what the experts in nutrition 

412 



NUTS 



413 



have long since found out. That is, that nuts are 
about the richest food nature has prepared for our 
use. Nuts, as a rule, contain more protein, fats, 
and heat-making material, pound for pound, than 
meat, eggs, wheat, or even cheese. 

As an everyday food, not a luxury. This is only 
another way of saying that nuts are among the 
most nutritious of our neglected foods. As their 
great food value be- 
comes better appreci- 
ated and the pleasing 
ways in which they 
may be combined with 
other foods become 
more generally under- 
stood, nuts will become 
a most important 
article of our trade. 
That the use of nuts 
as a food is steadily 
on the increase in the 
United States may be 
seen by their increased 
sales. Nuts are a 
wholesome food and 
in time will no doubt rank as a food necessity 
and not as a luxury. This means that great quan- 
tities of wild nuts which have been allowed to fall 
and remain unharvested will be gathered, sold, and 
eaten. This yearly waste is now so large that if 
we were able to express it in definite figures we 
would all be astonished. Just because the United 
States is not as thickly populated as the Old World 
countries and because it is remarkably fruitful is 




The pecan 



414 THE STORY OF FOODS 

no excuse for our wasting or neglecting so valuable 
an article of food — a food, too, that nature furnishes 
as lavishly as she does nuts. 

The wide distribution of nuts. The fact that 
many nuts, with ordinary care, will keep in good 
condition for many months is decidedly fortunate. 
Still another advantage they possess is the generous 
way in which they are distributed over the whole 
country. It is an uncommonly barren and almost 
treeless region that does not offer us some kind of 
nut that is rich, meaty, and wholesome. If you 
look from the window of a transcontinental train 
upon a stretch of stunted pinon trees in the South- 
west, you feel sure that nothing in sight could pos- 
sibly yield food. Yet these low, scrubby pinon trees 
produce great quantities of finely flavored nuts. 
Pinon nuts are highly prized by those who are 
familiar with them and are aware of their nourish- 
ing qualities. 

While some nuts are not found outside a limited 
territory, there are others which are found almost 
everywhere. For instance, the black walnut is 
scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast and 
from the Canadian border far into the South. The 
hickory nut and the chestnut also extend over a 
wide range. On the other hand, the hazelnut and 
the pinon nut are not nearly so widely distributed. 
You will find it interesting to see how large a list 
you can make of nuts to be found in your own 
locality. Perhaps the extent of that list will sur- 
prise you. 

Cultivation : improves quality, increases use. The 
broader appreciation of the food value of nuts 
and an increased use mean that their production 



NUTS 



415 



will not be left entirely to the chances of natural 
seeding and wild growth, but will depend more 




Shelling and grading English walnuts. Scientific cultivation 
and handling have greatly extended the use of nuts 

upon planting and careful cultivation. This has 
been the history of almost every fruit and vegetable 
that has gained popularity enough to become a 
leading article of trade. Usually cultivation has 
greatly improved the quality of a fruit, increased the 
quantity and the certainty of its yield, and some- 
times brought it into earlier bearing. Then, too, the 
experts who make a careful study of a fruit are 
usually able to change it so as to remove faults that 
would interfere with its commercial success, devel- 
oping in their place more pleasing and desirable 
qualities. The ''paper-shelled" walnuts, pecans, 
and almonds are fine examples of what they have 
done in the way of improving nuts. Here the skill of 
scientific growers has reduced the thickness of the 
shell so that the nuts may be easily cracked. They 



416 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



saw that a thin, brittle shell which could be easily 
cracked at the table would add immensely to the 





-TT- r- 








'W : ^ KM * \] 



An English walnut orchard in New York. A hardy variety of this nut 

thrives even in localities where the winters are more 

severe than in western New York 

popularity and sale of these nuts. At the same time 
they realized that great care must be taken to 
secure this advantage without sacrificing the sweet- 
ness and the characteristic flavor of the nuts. Pos- 
sibly there has been a slight loss in flavor, but the 
shells have been so altered in thickness that they well 
deserve the name " paper." It is equally true that 
this alteration has secured English walnuts, pecans, 
and almonds an undisputed place at the social 
table, thereby greatly extending their use and 
increasing their market value. 

There are few kinds of specialized farming more 
interesting and profitable than nut culture. This 
industry has been best developed in the South and 



NUTS 417 

the Far West. Here are found vast fields of peanuts 
and orchards of pecans and groves of almonds and 
English walnuts. The region of western New York, 
near Lake Ontario, also has highly developed Eng- 
lish walnut orchards. The nuts from these orchards 
are of a particularly sweet and hardy variety which 
thrives in localities where the winters are even 
more severe than in western New York. Thus we 
see how the increased demand for these fancy nuts 
has brought about an astonishing increase in the 
area of their production. 

Our nut supply and its sources. Because of the 
immense supply of wild nuts gathered and eaten 
without ever being marketed, it is impossible to 
form any idea of the quantity of nuts consumed by 
the American people. With cultivated nuts it is 
possible to be more definite. In a single year we 
exported to other countries about 8,000,000 pounds 
of peanuts and about $400,000 worth of other nuts. 

In spite of the millions of pounds of nuts grown in 
this country, we bought from other countries about 
190,000,000 pounds of nuts in a single year. e . We 
imported about 18,000,000 pounds of almonds, 
50,000,000 pounds of coconut meat, 20,000,000 
pounds of Brazil nuts, 12,000,000 pounds of filberts, 
44,000,000 pounds of peanuts, and 37,000,000 pounds 
of walnuts in twelve months' time. We also bought 
more than $1,000,000 worth of other nuts. 

There are, perhaps, no countries in the world, 
except those lying within the polar regions, that do 
not send us some kind of nuts. The geographic 
range of our nut supply extends practically over 
the entire world. We buy nuts from Europe, from 
Asia, from Africa, from Central America, South 

27 



418 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



America, North America, from the East Indies, the 
West Indies, from the islands of the Far South, and 




Harvest time in a California almond orchard. The almond, a native 

of Africa and the Far East, is a great success 

in California 

from the islands that dot the wide expanse of the 
Pacific Ocean. Perhaps a glance at the various 
nuts and their native homes will teach us something 
of the geography of this wonderful food. 

Nuts of many kinds. Our most common native 
nuts are: the acorn, hickory nut, chestnut, black wal- 
nut, and butternut. We also grow great quantities 
of peanuts, almonds, pecans, and English walnuts. 

Let us study the geography of our imported nuts. 
The pistachio, a small bean-shaped nut of green 
color and peculiar flavor that you have undoubtedly 
eaten in ice cream or candy, is a native of Western 
Asia. We still import our chief supply of it from 
that region. This nut commands an unusually high 
price, and as it can be grown in the United States 
it is not to be wondered that enterprising Americans 



NUTS 419 

have begun to cultivate it. There are now pistachio 
groves in California. 

The English walnut is native to England, Austria, 
and Germany. We import walnuts from France, 
England, Germany, Italy, Chile, Turkey, and 
Australia. 

The litchi nut is really not a nut at all, but a dried 
fruit with a flavor something like that of the raisin. 
The litchi is a great favorite in China and we import 
many thousand pounds for the use of the Chinese 
here. Another Chinese dainty is the ginkgo nut, 
which grows in that country on what we call the 
maidenhair tree. It is eaten here only by Orientals. 

The pignolia, or pine nuts, which grow on many 
varieties of pines, both here and abroad, were the 
chief food of some tribes of American Indians before 
our forefathers settled in this country. They have 
also been used as food in Italy and in some Asiatic 
countries for a great many years. In our own 
Western States they are known as "pinons." We 
import these nuts chiefly from France and Italy. 

The water chestnut — the seed of a water plant — 
is used extensively in Asia. In this country it is 
eaten almost entirely by the Chinese who live here 
and for whom we import it from China. 

We are now buying in small quantities from South 
America what is known as the paradise nut. It 
resembles a Brazil nut in shape but by many it is 
considered a little finer in flavor. 

There is an interesting story told about this nut, 
which grows in a large round pod with a small cap 
at one end. As the story goes, the gas which forms 
in the pod after it has fallen to the ground forces the 
cap out with a loud report. This report attracts the 



420 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



monkeys, who then search for the nuts in the thick 
undergrowth, where they have been blown by the 
force of the explosion. This is given as the chief 
reason for the small supply of paradise nuts brought 
to our markets. 

Another tropical nut is the cashew, which you 
perhaps have tasted. There is a candy made of 
cashew nuts that can be bought in some of the finest 
delicatessens and candy shops in our country. Like 
the candle nut, which also grows in the tropics, the 
cashew nut should be roasted before being eaten, as 
it contains poisonous elements which are destroyed 
by the heat. This nut, however, can be eaten raw 




Taking on a cargo of Brazil nuts for the New York market. The 

United States buys more than twenty million pounds 

of these nuts each year 

or pickled when properly shelled and prepared by 
one familiar with its peculiarities. But should you 



NUTS 421 

or I attempt to eat one, as we would a walnut or 
pecan, we would very likely suffer for our rashness. 

Like the peanut, the tabebuia nut from Zanzibar 
is roasted. The tabebuia is the seed of a fruit which 
looks much like a pumpkin, and so perhaps we should 
not class it as a nut, but as a seed. 

The Brazil nut, of which we import 20,000,000 
pounds a year, is a native of Brazil and Guiana and 
is of special interest because of the way it grows. 
Large hard, round shells, some of them twice as big 
as an ordinary coconut, encase two dozen or more 
of the popular Brazil nuts — or cream or Para nuts, 
as they are often called. These great round nut 
cases grow on very large trees. Because of their 
weight and their hard shell it is dangerous for any 
one to venture among the trees when the nuts are 
ripe enough to fall. 

"Earth nuts": the peanut and chufa. There is 
scarcely a boy or girl in America who is not familiar 
with the peanut. Strictly speaking, the peanut is 
not a nut but a pod seed — a true legume and first 
cousin to the pea and bean. It is a native of Brazil, 
but is now cultivated in all warm countries. The 
United States produces about 300,000,000 pounds 
a year, and Africa, Spain, China, Japan, Italy, 
Java, and France together grow about twice that 
quantity each year. 

The peanut does not grow on a shrub or tree, but 
on a vine. As the blossoms appear they are covered 
with earth and the nut develops in the ground, 
somewhat like potatoes. Unlike the potato, how- 
ever, the nut is attached to the branch and not to 
the root of the vine. Commercially the peanut is 
grown not only for the whole nut but also for the 



422 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



manufacturing of peanut meal, peanut butter, and 
peanut oil. 

Another odd underground or earth nut is the 
chufa, which is known also as the earth almond. 
The plant is a sedge or grass and, unlike the 
peanut, the nuts grow on the roots, like the potato. 
The chufa is eaten both fresh and dried and is a 
very common food in Southern Europe. 

Coconuts. The coconut palm may be found 
on almost any of the islands that dot the surface of 
the Pacific Ocean. There is an interesting story 
about the way in which many coconuts are planted. 




A group of coconut palms, Jamaica. The coconut palm flourishes 
throughout the West Indies 

Every year thousands of coconuts are blown from 
the trees into the water where they drift about until 



NUTS 423 

they are cast upon some friendly shore, there perhaps 
to take root and establish another grove. In this 
fashion practically every island of the Pacific that 
is not sheer rock has been planted with coconut 
palms. 

The coconut has been transplanted to many other 
tropical regions of the globe and now there are great 
groves of coconut palms in the West Indies, in Cey- 
lon, and in India. 

Like the reindeer of Alaska, the coconut palm 
furnishes the natives dependent upon it with food, 
clothing, shelter, boat-making materials, and many 
other necessary things. 

The coconut palm has a long, slender trunk with 
neither leaf nor limb, except at the top, which has a 
" crown" of immense leaves and clusters of nuts. 
These nuts are covered with a thick, tough green 
husk. The nut itself has a hard, hairy shell, inside 
of which is a rind of white "meat" and as much as 
a cupful of "milk." This milk is decidedly agree- 
able to the taste and very refreshing. 

There are two ways of harvesting coconuts. One 
is to have native pickers "walk" up the tree and 
pick them, and the other is to cut them with long- 
handled cutters. The former method is extremely 
picturesque. Clutching the trunk of the tree firmly 
with his hands, the native places his bare feet on 
its ribbed bark and, using both feet and hands to 
propel himself, clambers quickly to the top. 

When the coconuts are very ripe they will fall of 
their own weight. After they have been gathered 
from the trees and the ground, they are heaped into 
immense piles, close to water when possible. The 
husks are gashed with a knife or spike and a thin 



424 THE STORY OF FOODS 

strip of the fibrous covering torn partly off. Then 
they are tied in pairs and tossed into the water by 




Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. 

A coconut raft on its way to market. One of the most curious and 
interesting ways of transporting food products 

the natives, who bind them into a continuous chain 
with cord made from the fiber of the coconut palm. 
These coconut chains are then formed into rafts 
and floated to market, or to some shipping point. 
Coconut rafts are usually propelled by long poles 
with which the natives "pole" their harvest to its 
destination. During harvest the waters bordering 
the coconut groves are crowded with acres of these 
curious rafts. 



NUTS 425 

When the coconuts reach the market, expert work- 
men remove the husks. The coconuts are then sold, 
either to shippers who send them to all parts of 
the world, or to shredding factories, oil factories, or 
butter factories. In the shredding factories the 
coconut is shelled, dried, and shredded, then put in 
packages, or shipped in bulk to other plants where 
it is placed in containers to be used in cakes and 
candies. The commercial name for the dried coco- 
nut meat from which oil is pressed is " copra." In 
the United States alone 70,000,000 pounds of 
shredded coconut have been used in a single year. 
In addition to this we import annually almost 
100,000,000 whole coconuts. 

In other factories the meat of the coconut is made 
into oil and butter and exported to all parts of the 
world. The shells of the coconut are used for many 
purposes, notably ornaments and gourds. 

Nutritious nut products. A number of different 
products are made from nuts, the most common, 
perhaps, being nut butters. No doubt we have all 
tasted peanut butter. There are many factories in 
the United States where thousands of pounds of it 
are turned out every day. It is really a very simple 
thing to make. The nuts are first shelled, then 
roasted, cleaned of chaff, carefully sorted, and finally 
ground into a soft, oily paste, to which salt is added. 
Nut butter is made of practically every oily nut, 
but the quantity of peanuts ground into butter is 
many times greater than that of all the other nuts 
combined. 

Peanut oil is another nut product that offers great 
possibilities. 

Nut milk is another product made from nuts. 



426 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



This is made by pouring boiling water on ground 
nuts, draining off the liquid, and allowing it to 




Brown Bros. 

A field of peanuts. Growing peanuts is a profitable industry, 

the high oil content of the nuts making them especially 

valuable for the manufacture of nut butter 

settle. Then a kind of cream or milk gathers. 
Some of these nut milks, especially that of the Java 
almond, are used as food for infants. 

We can buy nut pastes, nut preserves, and candied 
nuts. In almost every country in the world nuts are 
used as ingredients in various dishes, in sirups, and 
for mixing with fruits for conserves. 

But we must not forget the nut meals and nut 
flours which are used in many ways. Nut meal is 
considered easy to digest. Chestnut flour is used in 
bread and cakes, forming one of the principal articles 
of food of many people in France and Italy. Sweet 
acorns are also ground into flour and are said to make 
a very good bread. In fact, in various parts of the 



NUTS 427 

world, nuts take the place of such cereals as wheat, 
corn, oats, and barley. 

Many centuries ago nuts were one of the principal 
foods of man, and in some countries this is still true. 
It would be difficult to imagine a way in which nuts 
are not eaten. Nut fritters, like our corn fritters, 
for instance, are very popular in Tuscany, Italy. 

Have you ever tasted nut coffee? Nuts of many 
kinds are roasted and ground and a drink made of 
them in the way we prepare coffee. Roasted nuts 
also form an important part of certain popular cereal 
drinks. Since nuts contain oil, roasting affects them 
as it does coffee. So it is not surprising that drinks 
pleasing in taste may be made from them. 

In the future when you think of nuts, you should 
remember that they are among the richest of all 
foods, that they can be prepared in a multitude of 
ways, and that they equal or surpass any other food 
in nourishment. 



Chapter XXVII 



SUGAR 



Sugar a world product. There are many reasons 
why sugar is one of the most interesting of the 
world's great staple crops. It is produced in com- 
mercial quantities in almost every country of the 
torrid and the temperate zones. With the possible 
exception of salt, sugar, either as a natural element 
or as an added ingredient, enters into more different 
articles of our diet than any other food product. 
It makes a more universal appeal to the palate of 
the world of children, adults, and even dumb animals 
than any other food element that exists. Finally, 
it is consumed in such enormous quantities in every 
part of the world that in both tonnage and dollars 
it constitutes one of the largest single items of food 
traffic passing through the hands of the wholesale 
and retail dealers. At the same time sugar perhaps 
yields to those who handle it the smallest percentage 
of profit of any known food. 

We are told that the manufacture of sugar from 
sugar cane is older than history, and that reference 
to it is found in the Sanskrit of ancient India. The 
cultivation of sugar cane seems to have been com- 
mon in India and China in remote times. The 
Greeks and Romans used sugar, but for medicinal 
purposes only, obtaining it from India at great cost. 
It was introduced into Europe from the East soon 
after the conquests of the ninth century. 

We are also told that sugar cane was grown in 
Syria and on the island of Cyprus as far back as the 

428 



SUGAR 



429 



middle of the eleventh century. From there it was 
carried into Sicily and other parts of the southern 
coast of Europe. 

Sugar cane was brought to the West Indies in 1494. 
It at once gained a strong foothold and became one 
of the principal crops of the islands. Almost im- 
mediately the West Indies became the world's 
leading sugar producers. To-day cane sugar comes 




Brown Bros. 

Unloading cane at a sugar mill, Natal, South Africa 
from the West Indies — especially Cuba and Porto 
Rico — South America, Java, India, the Philippines, 
Hawaii, Mexico, Egypt, the island of Mauritius, 
Taiwan, and from our own Southern States, and the 
cane is grown in practically every tropical country. 
Sugar cane and raw sugar. Sugar cane grows in 
single stalks, the mature cane reaching a height of 
from eight to twenty feet. A plantation of cane 
looks much like a field of Indian corn stalks of enor- 
mous size. From the upper portion of the cane 



430 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



its long, blade-like leaves extend outward in great 
tufts or showers. The cane is ready to cut in from 




Loading sugar cane into cars on a plantation in Cuba 

twelve to sixteen months from the time of planting. 
As it ripens it becomes very heavy, and if a strong 
wind occurs the cane falls to the ground in a 
tangled mass, thus adding much labor to the task 
of harvesting. The stalks are cut by hand, and as 
many as a hundred negroes may sometimes be seen 
working in one small field. 

Immediately after the cane is cut it is stripped of 
its leaves, topped, and loaded on carts and hauled 
to the mills. Then it is converted into raw sugar for 
shipment to the refineries in more northern countries. 

In the mills the ripe cane is passed between large, 
rough rollers called crushers, which break it up. 
After this it passes between several sets of triple 
rollers which press out the juice. As the cane 
passes from one set of rollers to another it is sprayed 



SUGAR 



431 



with water in order to extract more of the sugar sap. 
Modern mills employ twelve to eighteen of these 
immense rollers which apply a pressure of five hun- 
dred tons. When the crushed cane comes from the 
last set of rollers the remaining fiber is dry. In the 




A sugar cane crusher. In all the countries where modern inventions have 

been installed for the cultivation of pie cane and the extraction 

of its juices, the sugar industry is highly profitable 

sugar world this fiber is called " bagasse." The 
bagasse is conveyed from the rollers directly under 



432 THE STORY OF FOODS 

the boilers, where it is burned to make steam with 
which to operate the mill. 

The juice as it is crushed from the cane runs 
through great filters and clarifiers and finally into 
the vacuum pans where it is boiled or evaporated 
until it forms crystals. You know that when you 
are making candy your sugar sirup will boil back 
into sugar, or crystals, unless you are extremely 
careful. That is just what the sugar manufacturers 
want this cane sirup to do. After the sugar sirup 
has boiled into crystals, it is placed in centrifugal 
machines, where it is whirled round and round 
many hundred times a minute. As the crystalline 
mass revolves rapidly the molasses passes through 
the fine wire screens of the machine, leaving only 
the yellow sugar crystals, called "raw sugar." 
Then the machines are stopped, and the raw sugar 







!Tr '** 



*ff *** 




Brown Bros. 

Sugar cane waiting to be unloaded at a factory in Cuba 

scraped into conveyers which carry it to the packing 
room where it is run into bags and shipped to the 
northern refineries. 



SUGAR 



433 



Refining sugar. When the raw sugar reaches the 
refineries it is stored in large warehouses, from 




In the granulating room of a sugar refinery. The recrystallized sugar 
is granulated in these huge machines 

which it is drawn as needed. Many of these refin- 
eries are thousands of miles from the mills and the 
raw sugar must be carried by steamship to them. 
When the raw sugar reaches the refineries it contains 
many impurities which are all removed in the refining 
processes. In fact, the final white sugar from the 
refineries is one of the purest foods known — being 
practically 100 per cent pure. 

In the refinery the sugar is first melted into a 
sticky liquid and while in this condition is passed 
through various filters and clarifiers, whence it flows 
a clear, brilliant, water-white sirup. This purified 
syrup is then put into vacuum pans and the water 
evaporated from it, the sugar in this way being 
recrystallized. 

28 



434 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Kinds and grades of sugar. Sugar, as you know, 
is put up in many grades and forms. The recrys- 
tallized product is used to make the various white 
sugars, such as granulated, powdered or pulverized, 
and rock sugar. Loaf sugar is the same as granu- 
lated, only it is poured into frames or moulds and 
cooled into large sheets, from which the lumps of 
various sizes are cut. Pulverized sugar is merely 
granulated sugar ground very fine or powdered. 

Molasses is the liquid and uncrystallized sugar 
which is separated from the sugar crystals in the 
centrifugal machine. Molasses sugar is obtained 
by boiling molasses. 

The beet-sugar industry. Now besides sugar cane 
there is another plant that yields sugar. This is 
the sugar beet, which furnishes about one half the 
sugar we use. No doubt you are all familiar with 
the sugar beet, though its history is not so old as 
that of the cane. 

In the year 1747 a German scientist discovered 
the sugar properties of the beet, but it was not 
until about 1810 that the production of sugar from 
the beet was seriously considered in a commercial 
way. At that time the wornout fields of Europe 
yielded an average of only about twelve bushels of 
grain per acre and with so many people to feed great 
numbers were in danger of starvation. Then the 
French discovered that for three or four years after 
they had planted a field in sugar beets, it would 
yield twice as many bushels of grain as it did before — 
furnishing, of course, food for twice as many people. 
This yield was no doubt due largely to the deep plow- 
ing necessary for the production of the sugar beet 
and to the deep tillage done by the burrowing of the 



SUGAR 



435 



beet itself. When this became known and the true 
value of the sugar beet began to be understood, 



fy 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Cultivating a field of sugar beets in Germany 

Napoleon I appropriated 1,000,000 francs, or about 
$200,000, to be used in establishing government 
factories and schools in which to teach sugar making. 

He then ordered French farmers to plant 90,000 
acres to sugar beets to supply the hundreds of little 
new sugar mills that were built throughout Northern 
France. Soon after this became known, other 
European nations began to plant sugar beets and 
build sugar factories and at the opening of the 
great world war these countries had more than 
1,300 big sugar factories which produced 8,000,000 
tons of beet sugar a year. 

Millions of families depend in peace times largely 
upon the beet-sugar industry for their living. In 
normal times whole sections in Belgium, France, 
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, Russia, and 



436 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



other European countries are given to the cultiva- 
tion of the sugar beet. It is, of course, grown in 
rotation with other crops. 

By 1880 the beet-sugar industry was successfully 
established in the United States. To-day we have 
about 80 huge factories costing nearly $100,000,000 
and producing annually more than 700,000 tons of 
white sugar. 

Great care has been given to the breeding of sugar- 
beet seed. Whereas in the early days of the industry 




Kansas farmers delivering sugar beets at a factory 

the beets weighed but a few ounces apiece and con- 
tained but 4 to 5 per cent of sugar, they now weigh 
several pounds apiece and contain from 15 to 20 
per cent of sugar. There are many large sugar-beet 
seed farms in Europe that ship seed to all the coun- 
tries which produce beet sugar. 

We have learned that in extracting sugar from 
cane the juice is squeezed out between many sets 
of big rollers. The process of extracting the sugar 



SUGAR 437 

from beets is quite different. Instead of being 
crushed, the beets, after they are washed, are cut 
into long, slender slices, about as large as a small 
lead pencil. These slices are then run into what is 
called a diffusion battery, which consists of a series 
of coils, each of which holds from five to ten tons of 
slices. Then hot water passing through the beets 
coaxes the sugar out of the tiny cells in which nature 
stores it. 

Next the water which has absorbed the sugar is 
filtered and clarified and boiled down so that the 
sugar crystallizes — almost a repetition of the process 
of making sugar from cane juice. Unlike the cane- 
sugar factories of the tropics, which produce only 
raw sugar and send it to the northern refineries to 
be purified, our beet-sugar factories complete the 
process and market only white granulated sugar, 
ready for the table. But in European countries, the 
beet-sugar factories for the most part make only 
raw sugar which is sent to big central refineries for 
purification. 

A candy-loving nation. Candy is perhaps the 
most popular form in which sugar is served to the 
American people. We eat almost $200,000,000 
worth of factory-made confectionery a year in 
this country. This does not include the tons of 
fudge, taffy, and other candies made in the homes. 
There are, according to the United States Depart- 
ment of Commerce, more than 2,500 factories in 
this country making candy under the inspection 
of the national and state governments. Not only 
is our national taste for sweetmeats highly de- 
veloped, but we have probably brought the art 
of candy making to its highest point. We export 



438 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



a little less than $1,500,000 worth of candy a year 
and import about $150,000 to $250,000 worth. 

There are few industries in the United States 
which have increased more rapidly in recent years 




Transferring Cuban sugar cane from carts to railway cars for shipment 

to the mills. Of the two million tons of sugar imported into 

the United States, Cuba supplies more than 95 per cent 

than the manufacture of candy. It is well for this 
candy-loving nation that great and increasing care 
is taken to see that only pure and wholesome 
candies are permitted to be made and sold. 

Production and use of sugar in United States. 
In a single year the people of this country consume 
about 4,000,000 tons of sugar, of which the United 
States and its outlying possessions produce nearly 
2,000,000 tons. Of the 2,000,000 tons imported, more 
than 95 per cent comes from Cuba. As we study these 
tremendous figures we must not forget that our own 



SUGAR 439 

Southern States produce more than 200,000 tons of 
cane sugar a year; that the sugar produced in 
Porto Rico and Hawaii together is five times this 
amount; that the Philippines yield more than 
100,000 tons a year; and that our Western States 
in a single year will produce more than 700,000 
tons of beet sugar. 

The quantity of sugar consumed in the United 
States amounts to about 80 pounds per year for 
each man, woman, and child in the country — a 
greater amount for each person than is consumed in 
any other country except Great Britain, Denmark, 
and far-off New Zealand and Australia. 

Germany and Russia are two of the leading beet- 
sugar-producing countries of the world, and they 
consume tremendous quantities of sugar. The 
world's total production of sugar for a year is about 
19,000,000 tons. 

Maple sugar. There is another sugar which is in 
high favor because of its delicious flavor, for cer- 
tainly maple sugar is one of the most delicious 
products known to our tables. Almost any person 
brought up in New England or in any of our Northern 
States east of the Mississippi River knows how this 
kind of sugar is made. The maple trees are tapped 
and spouts driven into the incisions. When a " run " 
of sap is on during the "sugar weather" of the early 
spring, the sweet sap trickles through the spouts and 
drops into buckets. The sap is emptied into barrels 
usually mounted on a low sled drawn by horses or 
oxen. At the sugar house the sap is emptied into 
a storage tank which feeds into a large flat pan or 
evaporator over an "arch." Usually there are a 
series of these pans. These not only permit the sap 



440 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



to be heated gradually, but furnish broad, shallow 
surfaces which spread the sap in thin sheets, thus 




Copyright, 191i 



Early spring in New England. Tapping a tree for a "run of sap" 
in a maple sugar camp 

making the process of evaporation much more 
rapid than if the boiling was done in a large kettle. 
If this maple sugar was melted and run through 
the filters and clarifiers of the refinery you would 
have exactly the same sugar you get from the cane 
and the beet. Raw cane sugar, raw beet sugar, and 
maple sugar each has an odor and flavor peculiar 
to the plant which produces it, and these are subject 
to complete change by refining. 



SUGAR 441 

Raisin sugar. There is still another sugar with 
which you probably are not familiar, but which I am 
sure you would like. Yet, there are many foreigners 
among us and not a few Americans who constantly 
call for raisin sugar, which is imported from the 
Levant in cans containing from one to five pounds. 
If you do not know what or where the Levant is, 
it will be a good idea for you to look it up, for you 
will meet that word often in your study of geography 
and history. The best grades of raisin sugar have 
a decided raisin flavor and are well classed as a 
luxury. 

Other sugar-producing plants. There are other 
sugar-producing plants, trees, and fruits besides the 
sugar cane, the sugar beet, the maple tree, and the 
raisin. But because more labor is required to 
extract the sugar, and because these plants do not 
possess so large a percentage of sugar and are harder 
to cultivate, they are not grown for the sugar they 
contain. Bananas have a high percentage of sugar; 
so have certain cacti, and potatoes, grapes, corn, and 
various trees other than the maple. But the yield 
is not enough to justify their use as sources of sugar. 
In fact, practically every food we eat contains some 
sugar, but in many foods the percentage is so small 
that a ton of it would not produce a pound of sugar. 
Therefore, when we speak of sugar we naturally 
think first of the cane, next of the beet, and then of 
the maple tree. 



Chapter XXVIII 

SPICES 

A luxury of long ago. Spices are especially in- 
teresting from the fact that each is a quite different 
part of its respective plant. The clove is a bud, the 
nutmeg a fruit, and cinnamon a bark. Commercially, 
mustard and ginger are usually classed as spices. 
Mustard is a seed, and the ginger used for seasoning 
and as a confection is a root. Spices and the fra- 
grant herbs used for seasoning the foods served on 
the table of the average laboring man to-day were 
once enjoyed almost exclusively by the rich, and were 
regarded as luxuries rightly belonging to royalty. 

Many references to spices may be found both in 
the Bible and in the early histories. These show 
how highly they were regarded in ancient times by 
kings, emperors, and princes, and by all the rich 
and powerful. There is, perhaps, even more in 
the chronicles of the Middle Ages to indicate that 
among gifts thought suitable for monarchs spices and 
"pleasant herbs" held high rank. In a sense they 
were regarded as belonging in the same class as rare 
wines, precious ointments, and perfumes. 

Perils of the spice trade. Perhaps the regard of 
the ancients for spices was partly because those most 
highly prized were nearly all grown in remote South 
Sea islands. They were to be had only in small 
quantities and after long and dangerous voyages 
in seas beset by pirates and swept by the terrible 
storms peculiar to the Indian and South Pacific 
oceans. The true adventurers of the seas from the 

442 



SPICES 443 

earliest days of navigation down to the present time 
have been the ships that touched at the faraway 




Brown Bros. 

The wharf at Singapore. The capital of the Straits Settlements 

is the most important halting place on the great trade 

route to the Far East and the chief port in the 

adventurous lands of the spice trade 

islands of "The Straits" and bartered gay cloths, 
beads, and gaudy trinkets for bales of spices wrapped 
in queer coverings of woven reeds and native grasses. 
To catch the scent of a ship in the spice trade, even 
to-day, is to breathe the odor of adventure. While 
it is true that piracy has practically been driven 
from the high seas, there are still many perils in store 
for the ships of the spice trade. Even to-day there 
is no lack of adventure in the traffic that brings the 
cinnamon, the allspice, and the cloves, which give 
out so tempting a fragrance as the pies, cakes, and 
other dainties come from the oven in our kitchen. 

Geography from real life. How easy it is to 
remember a lesson in geography that has been made 
a living thing because of some personal association 



444 THE STORY OF FOODS 

connected with it! No doubt most of the boys and 
girls who see this book have read some of the stories 
by Robert Louis Stevenson, especially The Wreckers 
and Treasure Island, which describe the exciting 
adventures of sailors in the romantic islands of the 
South Seas. To the writer these islands — where 
most of the world's spices are grown— seem very 
real because he has heard Mrs. Robert Louis Ste- 
venson tell the strange adventures that befell her and 
her famous husband as they cruised idly through 
these fascinating but treacherous seas. Another 
personal link that has helped make the geography 
of the spice trade more vivid to the author was his 
acquaintance with an English sea captain who had 
sailed these waters. One of his descriptions never 
to be forgotten was that of passing to the leeward 
of the island of Ceylon when the fragrance of the 
spice harvest, carried far out to sea, brought to mind 
the familiar lines of that old " Missionary Hymn": 

"What though the spicy breezes 
Blow soft o'er Ceylon's Isle." 

"Spicy breezes," this sailing captain declared, was no 
mere figure of speech, for the aromatic fragrance of 
the spices may be detected for a surprising distance 
out at sea. 

The original spice markets. In medieval times, 
Arabia was the home of the rich spice merchants 
and the world's great spice markets were maintained 
there. Important as the spice trade was in those 
days, it became still more so in later years, and had 
much to do with the making of European and 
colonial history. In fact, the principal articles of 
trade between Europe and the East Indies have 
always been spices. 



SPICES 



445 



The spice markets of to-day. 

United States imported more 
pounds of unground 
black and white pep- 
per and more than 
23,.000,000 pounds of 
unground spices. These 
spices came from 
the Netherlands, Eng- 
land, France, Austria- 
Hungary, Spain, the 
Dutch East Indies, 
the Straits Settle- 
ments, British India, 
Siam, China, Japan, 
Zanzibar, Jamaica, 
Mexico, and the Philip- 
pines. Of course, most 
of the spices we re- 
ceived from England, 



In one year the 
than 27,000,000 




Picking cloves in Zanzibar 



the Netherlands, and France came originally from 
their colonies and possessions in the tropics. 

Penang the spice-producing center. Practically 
all spices grow in hot climates, and close to the 
ocean. Intense heat, together with the salt sea 
breezes, seem necessary to produce that highly 
aromatic, snappy quality so characteristic of every 
kind of spice. Scarcely any pastime could be sug- 
gested to a boy or girl more interesting than an 
imaginary cruise to the various islands where 
most of the world's spices are grown. Suppose you 
spread before you a map of the world, drawn on a 
generous scale — one that shows the principal ocean 
routes — and play what may be called the spice game. 




SQMMSBb 



ras& 




8 2 

3 *• 



5? 



S § 



& 



SPICES 447 

First, find Penang, one of the Straits Settlements; 
Pulo Penang, or Betel-nut Island, is its native name. 

Penang is perhaps the most interesting island in 
the world, so far as the growing of spices is con- 
cerned. Its name is so inseparably associated with 
the growing of spices, especially pepper and cloves, 
that its mention at once suggests the aroma of vast 
spice plantations. Not only does it grow cloves, but 
almost every known kind of spice; and, both in 
quality and in quantity, its production is remark- 
able. 

The intense tropical heat and the humidity force 
the spices to give out their fragrance with an almost 
overpowering generosity. The atmosphere is heavy 
with the pungent odor of the clove, most fragrant 
of all the spices. The fragrance of a pine or balsam 
forest in the North is mild in comparison with the 
perfume drawn by tropic suns from the spices of 
a South Sea Island plantation. You would un- 
doubtedly find the perfume too strong to be pleasant. 

Culture and curing of the clove. The clove tree 
is an evergreen sometimes growing to a height of 
forty feet. When seven years old it bears buds 
which, white at first, gradually turn crimson and 
then dark red. They are picked before they expand 
into flowers and are cured either by smoking or by 
drying in the sun. When cured they are dark brown 
in color. While the clove tree is supposed to bear 
two crops a year it cannot be depended upon to do 
this. Yet on the other hand, if well situated and 
properly cared for, the clove tree will continue to 
bear until nearly a hundred years old. 

Struggle for control of clove industry. The his- 
tory of clove culture is a dark one, for the ambition 



448 THE STORY OF FOODS 

to gain a monopoly or control of the world's output 
of cloves resulted in much violence and many crimes. 
Altogether the blackest chapter in this history was 
the warfare between the Portuguese and the Dutch 
for control of the clove industry. 

At one time the Portuguese held the Moluccas, 
then known as the Spice Islands. They had large and 
fruitful clove plantations on practically all of them. 
Amboina, one of the most interesting of the Spice 
Islands, was then — as now — owned by the Dutch. 
It had been brought under a high state of cultiva- 
tion, especially as to the production of cloves. The 
Dutch now began to cast covetous eyes upon the 
thriving plantations of their Portuguese neighbors. 
And Dutch colonizers of those days had the courage 
of their desires — they could fight as well as farm. 
The fact is that few of any race or nationality who 
had the courage to brave the dangers of the South 
Seas to try their fortunes in the Spice Islands were 
at all particular about the means they used to gain 
what they wanted. The Portuguese cared no more 
about the right or wrong of an act than the Dutch. 
But history seems to credit the Dutch with starting 
the Spice Islands feud by raiding the Portuguese 
plantations and destroying the trees. The fiery 
Portuguese planters defended their property with 
stubborn bravery, retaliating when they could. 

But the prize for which they both contended so 
bitterly did not fall permanently into the hands of 
either. 

Spread of spices to other islands. Nature her- 
self defeated the selfish motives of these Dutch and 
Portuguese adventurers. Shrewd and clever, they 
saw quite as clearly the riches to be gained by a 



SPICES 



449 



monopoly of the spice trade as the keenest promoter 
or greedy captain of industry of to-day sees the gains 




Gathering cloves after they have been dried 

to be had from an unfair advantage. But they failed 
to realize the fact that the South Seas were gener- 
ously set with many other islands quite as well 
suited to the growing of spices as the Moluccas. 
While they were fighting, adventurers like themselves 
had been busy planting clove trees on other islands. 
These men who dreamed of cornering the world's 
production of cloves had overlooked some of the 
greatest clove-producing islands of the world. The 
growing of cloves on the island of Zanzibar, just off 
the east coast of Africa, began just in time to upset 
the plans of the Spice Island planters. Later, 
plantations sprang up on Penang, — where now the 
choicest cloves perhaps in the world are grown. 
These plantations yielded fortunes to generation 
after generation of spice kings who controlled them. 

30 



450 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Picturing the spice kings. Before we dismiss 
those old pioneers of the Spice Islands, it will be 
interesting to try to picture them as they appeared 
some two hundred years ago. We shall probably 
not be far wrong if we think of them as looking like 
the pirates of Howard Pyle's famous illustrations. 
Certainly the fierce, swarthy, black- whiskered Portu- 
guese fit perfectly into the picture with the ferocious 
Malay pirates that then scoured the Bay of Bengal 
and the Indian Ocean for any helpless ship they 
could overhaul. 

Hardships of the spice grower. When you try 
to picture the conditions surrounding the production 
of the spices which add a pleasing tang to home- 
made mince pie or pickled pears, you will do well to 
remember that the heavily scented air, the brilliant 
flowers, and the gorgeous birds do not make up the 
entire background. *The picture lacks completeness 
unless you are able also to see something of what 
it means to subdue a tropical jungle and transform 
it into a thriving plantation; to realize that deadly 
fevers, poisonous snakes, and swarms of maddening 
insects have claimed thousands of victims wherever 
spices are grown or gathered. The planter of to-day 
in spice-growing islands does not have to contend, 
as did the pioneers in this strange kind of farming, 
with hordes of Malay pirates and with covetous 
competitors. He has also learned how, through the 
introduction of modern sanitary methods, to reduce 
greatly the perils of the tropical jungle. At the same 
time, he finds no lack of hardships and adventures so 
long as he lives where his spices are grown. 

Why spices are costly. These things give us more 
than a hint as to the reason why spices have always 



SPICES 451 

been and probably always will be comparatively 
expensive. It is but natural that we should be 
expected to pay a premium on an article of food 
brought from the most remote and inaccessible 
islands of the sea — a food raised under the torrid 
sun of the tropics and calling for the constant sacri- 
fice of comfort on the part of the producer. 

The story of the clove industry is typical of 
almost every other spice and is sufficient to suggest 
what has taken place wherever the spice trade has 
been established. 

Two spices from one fruit. The nutmeg is the 
pit or kernel of a fruit which, when ripe, looks some- 
thing like a small peach. The pulp of this fruit is 
quite unpleasant to the taste. Inside the pulp is 
a red flesh known as "mace" — one of the most 
popular spices known to modern cookery. When 
you taste a dish flavored with "mace" you will 
know that you are eating what was once the soft 
red covering of a nutmeg. Nutmeg trees properly 
located and well cared for are remarkably prolific. 
In one year a single tree has been known to produce 
more than two thousand nutmegs. The nutmeg 
blossom is white, bell-shaped, and as fragrant as it 
is beautiful. When eight years old the tree begins 
to bear, often continuing to yield fruit until it is 
seventy-five years old. 

Although there is ripe fruit on the nutmeg tree 
the year round, the principal harvest occurs in the 
fall of the year and a smaller one in April, May, 
and June. 

Preparing nutmegs for market. The harvesting 
of nutmegs is very interesting. The berry or pit of 
the fruit is first separated from the surrounding pulp 



452 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



and placed over a slow fire to dry. Then the shells 
are cracked and the kernels, or nutmegs, sprinkled 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 



Nutmeg tree and fruit. The kernel of this fruit is the nutmeg of 

commerce. The red flesh supplies the popular 

spice known as mace 

with lime to protect them from insects. They are 
now ready for shipment to the markets of the world. 
Nutmegs are grown in Penang, the Celebes, and also 
in some of the islands of the West Indies. These 
islands furnish the bulk of the supply used in 



SPICES 



453 



America, which is by far the largest consumer of 
nutmegs. Africa and South America also have 
nutmeg plantations. 

Harvesting and shipping cinnamon. Much choice 
cinnamon is grown in Penang. This fragrant spice 
is supposed to be a native also of the island of Cey- 
lon. This island is possibly the real center of cinna- 
mon production. Cinnamon is also grown to some 
extent in the East Indies. Cassia, another variety, 
comes from China as well as from the East Indies. 

Nearly every boy and girl knows that cinnamon 
is the bark of the small branches and twigs of the 
cinnamon tree. The irregular pieces of bark are 
called sticks, and all cinnamon is shipped to whole- 
sale grocers in stick form. This form is not only 




Brown Bros. 

Natives preparing stick cinnamon for foreign markets 

more convenient but is necessary in order to pre- 
serve the strength and fragrance of the cinnamon. 



454 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Grinding spice, like grinding coffee, releases the 
aromatic oils. If the ground spice is then exposed 
to the air its fragrance and flavor are soon lost. 
For this reason many housewives have preferred 
to buy cinnamon and other spices in their natural 
forms and grind them as needed. This prac- 
tice, once almost universal, is not now nearly so 
general. Doubtless the change is due largely to 
the improved airtight packages in which ground 
spices are sealed. In such packages the strength 
cannot escape into the air. 

Foreign and home-grown pepper. Probably very 
few American boys and girls know just what black or 
white pepper looks like growing in the plantations. 
Very likely the commonest notion is that the black 
and white pepper from the grocery store in its natural 
state looks like the green peppers, or the sweet 
peppers, generally found in our kitchen gardens. 
The truth is that there is very little relation between 
our garden pepper and the pepper of commerce. 
The black or the white pepper in the shaker on your 
dining table once grew in the form of berries on a 
climbing shrub in a garden of Southern India, 
Sumatra, Java, Ceylon, Siam, Borneo, Penang, or 
some part of the Malay Peninsula. In the natural 
state the berry is red, but curing turns it dark brown 
or black. White pepper is produced by certain 
variations in the curing process. 

Cayenne and other red peppers. Find Cayenne, 
French Guiana, on your map. Our cayenne pepper 
gets its name from this town, although much of our 
supply comes from Zanzibar, Mombasa, and Sierra 
Leone, Africa, and from Japan. Both cayenne 
pepper and red pepper are the powdered ripe pods 



SPICES 



455 



of a small plant bearing a bright red fruit. The 
United States has ruled that true cayenne pepper is 






Packing spices. The modern airtight packages into which ground 
spices are sealed preserve their flavor and fragrance 

obtained from the small red pepper pods, and that 
common red pepper is from the large pods. A great 
deal of our red pepper comes from Mexico, our own 
Southern States, and from both the East and the 
West Indies. 

Paprika is grown principally in Hungary, although 
we buy much of this product from Spain. Paprika 
is now being grown in America in increasing quan- 
tities. It is the dried flesh of a large, long red 
pepper, powdered, and is mild in taste. It is used 
extensively for flavoring salads and in making sauces 
and pepper vinegar. 

Louisiana is the home of tabasco, a long-podded 
red pepper, somewhat similar to the paprika. This 
is made into a rich, extremely strong sauce served 



456 THE STORY OF FOODS 

in salads, soups, and other dishes and on meats 
and oysters. As tabasco is perhaps the strongest 
of all sauces or flavorings, it should be used only in 
moderation. 

Our imports of pepper. You shake but little 
pepper upon your food, hardly enough to be seen. 
A mere drop of tabasco is all that one requires to 
flavor a bowl of soup. Yet you will be astonished 
to learn how many pounds of pepper we import 
from other countries in a single year. The total 
exceeds 25,000,000 pounds. Besides this supply, 
remember, we grow millions of sweet peppers in our 
own gardens, and our Western and Southern States 
have many acres planted to the stronger varieties. 



Chapter XXIX 

SALT 

A food that flavors. There is one food the taste 
of which in itself we do not like, but without which 
almost every other food that we eat would be flat, 
stale, and unpalatable. We use it at every meal 
and physicians say we could not live without it. Of 
course we refer to salt. Perhaps you never seriously 
thought of salt as a food, but it is, and it is neces- 
sary to the health and comfort of both human 
beings and dumb animals. If your father is a farmer 
you have no doubt noticed that he has a "salt rock" 
in his pasture or else occasionally gives the stock a 
little coarse salt. Possibly, too, you have read how 
deer and other wild animals go to the "salt lick," 
braving many dangers in order to secure a little of 
that food which we are inclined to regard so lightly. 

The American Indians discovered the value of 
salt and found ways of securing it before the white 
man brought it to them. The salt springs of west- 
ern New York, in the greatest salt-producing section 
of the country, were known to them before pioneer 
settlers began to gather salt there. 

Salt present everywhere. As to where it comes 
from— get your map of the world and place your 
finger at random upon a spot, almost anywhere on 
it. Then say, "Salt can be obtained here," and 
you will very likely be correct. In other words, 
salt can be had from its original sources in practi- 
cally every region in the world, as well as from 
every shore which the ocean washes. 

457 



458 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Because the earth is rich in veins of rock con- 
taining salt it is possible to dig down and strike a 




Courtesy of Wallace Evans 

Deer on a game preserve licking salt. In pioneer days the woods were 
often full of deer-paths which ran to licks near salt springs 

salt vein or "lead" in almost any inland region. 
Then, besides this, there are inland bodies of salt 
water which furnish salt and great mines where 
rock salt has crystallized in immense quantities. 

This does not mean that salt may be found in 
paying commercial quantities in almost every gen- 
eral locality — far from it! But it does tell us that 
nature has been kind enough to give a very generous 
geographic distribution to a food element necessary 
to the health and comfort of all animal life. 

Although there are many million pounds of this 
food used each year there is no fear that the supply 
will be exhausted as there is practically no region 
in the world where it cannot be secured. 

Three ways of obtaining salt. There are really 
three ways in which salt may be secured; first, by 



SALT 459 

mining; second, by evaporating sea water; and third, 
by digging wells until a salt vein is struck and then 
pouring down water and pumping it up again as 
brine. When the veins or leads of salt lie at a great 
depth below the surface, it is usually much cheaper 
to resort to the brine-well method than to mine it 
out like coal. This brine is put through a plant 
which heats, niters, and evaporates it, leaving only 
the dry salt. When this product is refined, sifted, 
and graded it is ready for sale and use. 

The salt which is mined is called rock salt and 
must be crushed or ground before it can be used for 
table purposes. There is also a solar salt which is 
evaporated by the sun, and which finds a ready and 
extensive sale. 

In securing salt from the ocean the water may be 




Brown Bros 



A great salt plant in northeastern Ohio. > Here the salt is 
made from brine secured by digging wells 

boiled and the salt thus removed, or it may be 
evaporated in the sun. In some countries great 



460 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



shallow beds are scraped out in the sand of the sea 
shore and when the tide goes out the sun evaporates 
the water, leaving a deposit of dry salt in the beds. 
This method is employed extensively in France and 
other European countries. 

In Utah we have Great Salt Lake, where many 
thousand carloads of salt are gathered each year 
and shipped to various points throughout the coun- 
try. There are also salt marshes in many parts 
of the country, and flowing salt-water wells. The 
ground about these wells is carpeted with a thick 
crust of salt. 

Very likely you will be inclined to ask why all 
animals — both human and dumb — require salt. 
The answer is that salt contains two elements 




Loading rock salt in an underground chamber of a salt mine 

which are very essential to the processes of diges- 
tion. These elements are sodium and chlorine. 



SALT 



461 



The history of salt. Like some of our other foods, 
salt has an honorable history. It is given a worthy 




Jrown Bros. 

Salt awaiting shipment on the vast beds near Salt Lake City, Utah 

place in the Bible and in histories and was one of 
the chief articles of trade carried by early caravans 
that crossed the deserts and wild countries of the 
ancient world. And salt did its share in the making 
of history during the Roman rule: in Rome a cer- 
tain street was named the Salerian Way because it 
was there that salt dealers lived. The Romans 
worked the salt mines of England at the time of 
the invasion. Venice, too, was noted for her salt 
works, which had much to do with the upbuilding 
of her powerful fleet of commercial and fighting 
boats. 

In Russia there are great salt fields where both 
men and women spend most of their lives in hard 
and cheerless toil. Many children contribute their 



462 THE STORY OF FOODS 

labor to this industry in practically all European 
countries. 

Other uses of salt. You know, of course, that 
salt is necessary for many purposes besides that of 
flavoring our food. For example, it is used exten- 
sively for preserving hides; as a preservative of food 
it is invaluable; in refrigeration, in chemistry, and 
in medicine it has a wide use. 

Our importation of salt. In spite of the fact that 
we have more salt in our own country than we can 
ever use we imported more than 275,000,000 pounds 
in one year from England, the British West Indies, 
Italy, Spain, and the Dutch West Indies. You have 
no doubt learned by this time that there are people 
in the United States who insist upon having im- 
ported foods, and even imported water. And there 
are people in other countries who ignore their own 
foods and import ours. Of course in many cases 
there are reasons for this expensive exchange of 
products that do not appear upon the surface of the 
transaction; on the other hand, it is often the result 
of an ill-founded whim without any good reason. 



Chapter XXX 

TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 

The delicatessen. There is probably no other 
place, outside of a great wholesale grocery, where 
you may get, at almost a glance, so sweeping a view 
of the geography of foods as in a thoroughly modern 
delicatessen store. This is because these fascinating 
little food shops specialize to a large extent in the 
delicacies of foreign lands. 

As its name suggests, the delicatessen is a place 
of delicacies, of dainty and unusual foods displayed 
to stimulate a sated and, perhaps, jaded appetite. 
As we enter the delicatessen store we are at once 
attracted by the cleanliness and the sanitary condi- 
tion, not only of the store and its employes, but of 
every package, glass, jar, and bottle in the place. 
Here cleanliness reigns supreme, for nothing so 
surely tends to discourage appetite as uncleanli- 
ness and disorder. 

Everything in a high-class delicatessen store is so 
temptingly displayed and so clean that it makes one 
feel confident that whatever he buys there will be 
of the best. Under the marble slab upon which 
are ranged the cold meats, the ammonia coils glisten 
with frost and lend a crisp freshness to everything 
near them. The cakes, breads, and pastries are 
placed in airtight glass cupboards and handled only 
when necessary, and then with the greatest care. 
The tiny glass kegs, or jars, which hold the pickles 
are as sweet and clean as constant scouring can make 
them. The whole store shines. 

463 



464 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



If you live in a large town or city and are familiar 
with the stock of a first-class delicatessen store you 




A fine display of olives and pickles on the shelves of a 
high-class delicatessen shop 

will know, at first hand, something of the labor, 
money, and taste expended in order to prepare and 
display foods in a tempting manner. 

Many delicacies have been introduced to awaken 
the relish for food. Each year finds many new kinds 
of these fancy foods on the market. We draw a 
supply of these from practically every country in 
the world. Let us look at the map again and see 
just what countries furnish us with some of the most 
curious and interesting of these special temptations 
to the flagging appetite. 

From the four corners of the earth. Draw a line 
from your home to New York City, from there to 
London, and thence straight to Calcutta, India. If 
your parents are lovers of chutney, the famous East 
India relish, and are in the habit of keeping it on 
their table, you may look at the bottle with a new 
interest as you realize that it has actually traveled 



TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 465 

the route that you have marked out. Draw another 
line from your home to France/ It is from this 
country that we get cretes de coq, or cocks' combs, 
which are used for garnishing, and from France we 
also receive many fruits in sirups and glace, includ- 
ing brandied rosebuds and candied chestnuts. From 
Spain and Portugal we get both fresh and candied 
or glace grapes. Russia sends us caviar (roe or fish 
eggs). From England we get many sauces and rel- 
ishes; from Germany come various young vegetables 
canned. Westphalia, Germany, supplies us with 
Westphalian ham and bacon, and Hungary furnishes 
famous and expensive sausages known as salami. 

All these foods are prepared and shipped across 
the waters to tempt the palates of those who like 
fancy foods at fancy prices. 

Products of many lands. Now suppose we name 
a few of the appetite coaxers that may be found in a 
first-class delicatessen or fancy grocery department. 

Here is a Hanover tea sausage from England, and 
next to it is a dainty sausage from Bohemia. That 
small white jar contains orange marmalade from 
England and beside it stands a bottle of pickled 
black walnuts from the same country. There are 
bottles of mixed fruits from France and guava jelly 
from the West Indies. Here are the famous date- 
nut butter from Persia, ginger in sirup from China, 
and crystallized ginger chips from England. There 
are tin boxes of biscuits, cakes, cookies, and all sorts 
of fancy pastry from England, Austria, and France, 
packed so as to be in perfect condition when opened. 

Next to the end is a row of bar-le-duc from Bar-le- 
Duc, France. On the shelf below are several jars 
of brandied peaches from our own New York state 

30 



466 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



and next to them are preserved figs and pickled figs 
from California. Those plump, delicious candied 
cherries come from France, and the apricot pulp is 
from Spain. There are some kumquats, or Japanese 
oranges, in marmalade. Near by are boxes of maca- 
roni and vermicelli from Italy. There is some 
arrowroot from the Bermudas and alongside are 
tangerines packed in Spain. 

On the vegetable shelf we see some tomato paste, 




Eighteen articles from a delicatessen used in making an 
"International Salad" 

a concentrated food, which comes from Italy. 
There are some cans of tiny white turnips from 
Belgium, cans of spinach from France, and a small 
bottle of choice pimiento peppers from Spain. From 
Italy we also get olive farcies, or olives stuffed with 
anchovies. Those at the end of the shelf are from 
France. That can of paprika pepper is from Hun- 
gary and the bottle of tiny pearl onions hails from 
Holland. The cans of small carrots are the product 
of Belgium, and the peas, of Belgium and of France. 



TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 467 

The corn on the ear in that bottle came from Ger- 
many and those capers, the flower buds from the 
caper bush — used for pickles, garnishes, and sauces — 
were sent from France. Holland furnishes the cans 
of cauliflower, and the jars of tiny lima beans were 
sent here from France. So, too, were the artichokes 
alongside them. There are some canned brussels 
sprouts and some cepes, or wild mushrooms, all 
from France. That jar of imported honey was made 
from flowers growing in Switzerland, on the slopes 
of the Alps. 

The truffle hunt. There is an interesting story 
connected with that can of truffles. The truffle is 
a variety of fungus and is possibly the most curious 
and least understood of any of our foods. Although 
it has been eaten for hundreds of years, man has 
never been able to produce it at will. It grows in 
clusters a few inches below the surface of the ground, 
much like potatoes, but has neither foliage nor roots 
of any kind. It is one of the most expensive of all 
foods, sometimes selling for as much as four dollars 
a pound. The truffle is round in shape, about the 
size of a walnut, although sometimes much larger, 
and is usually blackish gray in color, netted with 
fine white veins. It is commonly found in forests 
of oak and beech trees. The most famous variety 
comes from the French province of Perigord. 

Truffles absorb so much of the vegetable food ele- 
ments of the soil that nothing can thrive near them 
save the trees which give them the required shade. 
Although oaks and beeches in Perigord are indica- 
tions of "truffle ground," the task of finding these 
almost precious little globes of fungus is by no means 
an easy one. As no part of the truffles themselves 



468 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



shows above the ground, they are usually located by 
trained dogs or pigs, that scent the peculiar odor of 



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A French peasant and his pig out on a truffle hunt 

the truffles and start digging for them. Truffles are 
also found in England, Germany, Italy, and occa- 
sionally Spain, but France is the main source of the 
world's truffle supply. 

There is something almost absurd in the picture 
of a French peasant plodding alongside an anxious 
pig snuffing his way through the forests of Perigord, 
or as it is now known, the Department of Dordogne. 
Although the pig loves the taste of truffles, he has 
no chance to indulge it, as his master carries a hoe 
or spade with which he digs up the truffles as fast 
as the pig finds them, and puts them in the sack 
which usually swings from his shoulders. The pig, 
however, does not go unrewarded. The peasant 
always carries a sack of food for the animal, and 



TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 



469 



when the pig locates a truffle he immediately taps 
him on the back with a stick and gives him a small 
bit of the food as a substitute for the fragrant truffle. 

Truffles come to us in cans *and bottles and are 
used mostly for garnishing and flavoring. The 
choice portions of the truffle are very expensive, 
but the parings from peeled truffles may be bought 
at a moderate cost and are very good. A tiny slice 
of truffle will flavor a whole dish of food. 

Rare and unusual foods. If you look over the 
dainties in a delicatessen of the most "fancy" kind 
you may possibly find a can of kangaroo tail that 
has come to us all the way from Australia. There 
the natives eat kangaroo meat as Americans eat 




Brown Bros. 

French women cleaning truffles. As the tubers are rough or warty, 
the workers use stiff nail brushes 

beef, but they ship us only the choicest portions of 
the tail meat, which is considered a rare delicacy. 



470 THE STORY OF FOODS 

Sorrel, or acid weed, is imported from France 
and used like spinach. Breasts of ptarmigan, a 
small bird of the grouse family found in Arctic 
America and in Norway, come to us put up in cans. 

Side by side in the delicatessen store one may find 
meat balls from Norway and pates de foie gras, or 
potted goose liver, from France and Germany. If 
you could see a French farm devoted to the produc- 
tion of this delicacy, you would think the sight a 
very strange one. You would find scores, even hun- 
dreds, of goslings kept in long rows of tiny pens, 
each compartment just large enough to hold a single 
fowl without giving it any chance whatever for exer- 
cise. The purpose of this restraint is to cause an 
enlargement of the creature's liver — a natural result 
of overeating without taking a normal amount of 
exercise. - These goslings are stuffed from early 
infancy until they are mature geese. They enjoy 
less liberty than a prisoner in his cell. It is not 
uncommon for a liver produced by this course of 
feeding to be five times its natural size. 

These livers are then baked and put through a 
screening or pulverizing process and packed in 
quaint cream-colored tureens of earthenware ready 
for individual service to the American consumer. 
Naturally they are expensive, a small one costing 
probably about two dollars at an American hotel 
or restaurant. Some whole goose livers are imported 
in tin cans. These are used by hotels and are 
garnished and flavored in many different ways. 

America is now beginning to meet the demand for 
this delicacy, one large poultry farm in New England 
being a pioneer in this line. On this farm the 
goose livers are parboiled, baked, forced through 



TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 



471 



a fine screen or grater, and then packed in large crocks. 
Its trade is chiefly with hotels and delicatessens. 

We also secure from France canned tunny fish; 
saucisson de foi gras, or sausage of goose liver, which 
is made of liver cut into small pieces, pistachio nuts, 
and pieces of truffle, thoroughly cooked and put up in 
cans ; goose breasts and wings smoked, and the skin 
of the roasted goose. This latter product comes from 
Germany also. France supplies us with preserved 
rose leaves, and Germany with preserved rosebuds. 

China contributes noodle soup and birds' -nest 
soup. This birds'-nest soup is a famous oriental 
dish made from the jelly-like substance found in 
the inside of the nests of certain kinds of swifts, or 
swallows, j These nests are built upon the face of 
cliffs and it is extremely dangerous work to collect 
them. How far the prosperous Oriental in America 




Swallow nests built on the face of a tall rock. These nests yield 
the substance from which birds -nest soup is made 

is willing to go to satisfy his taste for a rare delicacy 
in the form of soup is shown by the fact that this 



472 THE STORY OF FOODS 

tidbit costs from seven to thirty dollars a pound at 
wholesale, a really good grade costing fifteen dollars. 
This is generally used in combination with chicken 
breasts and a fine quality of ham. The "yen wai," 
or edible birds'-nests, as prepared for export looks 
much like cakes of fluffy white wax. The nests are 
found in many of the islands of the Indian and 
Pacific oceans. 

Bottles of mixed fish come from Italy and contain 
tunny fish, olives, olive oil, pickles, spices, peppers, 
sardines, onions, and capers. 

We also import many kinds of after-dinner candies 
from Old World countries. Vienna probably sends 
us as great a quantity as any other foreign city. 
Foremost among these candies are those with true 
fruit hearts, which are in great demand. 

Home foods. Besides the imported delicacies 
named there are many kinds of American dainties to 
be had, such as cheeses, bottled fish, and canned fish, 
of which you have already been told. Many kinds of 
excellent American sausages and meats are displayed. 
Among these are cooked foods, such as fresh roast 
beef, roast pork, boiled ham, and veal loaf. 

The delicatessen a friend in need. Almost all 
large department and grocery stores now have their 
delicatessen departments. While the original idea 
of the delicatessen was that it should be a shop of 
delicacies, it has now become a convenience store, 
a place where the busy housewife may buy a cooked 
or "ready-to-eat" meal. 

In the large cities, the little delicatessen shop 
"around the corner" is a great help to the tired flat 
dwellers and all who wish to reduce housekeeping 
cares to the lowest possible point. It has many a 



TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 473 

time saved the day for the hostess who has found 
herself face to face with unexpected guests. It 
does away with the necessity for carrying a supply of 
delicacies and cooked food in the refrigerator or 
icebox. A telephone call will bring a steaming 
dinner or cold lunch to one's door in short order if a 
thoroughly modern delicatessen is at hand. 

An up-to-date delicatessen will generally have on 
hand, for hurry-up calls, steaming pots of soups and 
vegetables, with hot roast beef, pork, or mutton. 
Even hot tea, coffee, and cocoa may be ordered there. 
Cold dishes and salads are their staples. Cold baked 
macaroni, cold beef, cold pork, cold mutton, veal 
loaf, cold boiled ham, potato salad, deviled eggs, 
cold roast chicken, baked pork and beans, num- 
berless salads — both vegetable and fruit — cakes, 
cookies, pies, sauces, puddings, brown bread, white 
bread, whole wheat bread, bran bread, graham 
bread, corn bread, are all ready for instant delivery. 
Besides all these there are shelves upon shelves of 
canned soups, vegetables, fish, meats, and fruits, 
ready to eat at a minute's notice. Ice creams, cold 
drinks, and ices are the delicatessen's specialties. 

Specializing in foods. Some delicatessens special- 
ize in the tempting foods of certain countries. One 
of these stores in Chicago claims to be able to fur- 
nish the German anything he has ever eaten in his 
old home across the water. Another delicatessen 
specializes in French foods, and its supply and 
methods of handling the food would surprise you. 
It has a little cafe in a side room where one may 
secure a dinner entirely of French foods, cooked by 
a French chef and served by French waiters. Almost 



474 THE STORY OF FOODS 

every large city has its Chinese delicatessen with a 
chop suey restaurant and curio shop combined. 

In fact, it would scarcely be too much to say that if 
you were to explore any big city you would find there 
a delicatessen shop, the stock of which represents the 
special taste of some one foreign nation. All the 
delicatessens together would form an exhibition of 
the foods or delicacies favored by every foreign 
nation represented in the population of that city. 

This does not mean that each delicatessen store 
is devoted exclusively to the foods of any one nation, 
— this occurs in only comparatively rare cases, — ■ 
but that the average delicatessen tries to keep on 
its shelves a fairly representative stock of delicacies 
from every civilized country. 



Chapter XXXI 

WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 

The wholesaler and his co-workers. The whole- 
sale grocery house is about the most fascinating 
place to which you could possibly pay a visit. As 
we explore its wonders we cannot help saying to our- 
selves, "If every man, woman, and child who has 
helped to grow, to harvest, to prepare, to pack, and 
to carry the foods under this roof were suddenly 
to appear before us, we should look upon a strange 
and interesting sight, for we should see a great throng 
of people belonging to almost every race on the face 
of the earth." 

Yes, nearly every country, nation, and tribe would 
be represented in that strange crowd. Even the 
inhabitants of the far-off islands of the sea would 
have a place in that queer gathering. Suppose we 
should see that amazing throng of workers from the 
four corners of the earth in one great procession 
passing slowly before our eyes. How much more 
vivid would be our understanding of the wholesaler's 
task of providing our tables with the wonderful 
variety of delicious foods common to-day in most 
American homes. Beyond doubt that strange com- 
pany of toilers would lead us to wonder how it is 
possible for us to buy our foods at so small a 
price — foods far greater in variety, finer in quality, 
cleaner, and more wholesome than kings could com- 
mand only a century ago. 

The wholesale grocery a manufacturing plant. 
There is a common notion that the grocery jobber 

475 



476 THE STORY OF FOODS 

or wholesaler is a middleman in the strictest sense 
of the term, that he receives a general assortment of 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Among the wholesaler's co-workers, who help harvest the foods later 

assembled under his roof, no race is more interesting than the 

young Tamil tea pickers of the Ceylon plantations 

food products at one door of his plant and sends 
them out at another in practically the same condi- 
tion in which they came in, and that for the mere 
matter of passing the goods through his hands he 
exacts a fat toll from the public. The merest 
glimpse of what goes on inside a great wholesale 
grocery is sufficient to destroy this idea and show 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 477 

its utter absurdity. As a matter of fact, in its every- 
day practice, a representative wholesale grocery is 
a manufacturing plant. The extent to which foods 
are worked over into new forms more acceptable 
to the consumer is not known or even thought of 
by the average person. Nor does the average retail 
grocer have any adequate idea of the amount of 
hard physical labor put into the cleaning, changing 
of forms, and mixing of foods into combinations to 
suit the varied tastes of the public and to meet 
the requirements of the national and state laws 
regulating the purity, cleanliness, and labeling of all 
food products. 

The reason why the real work of the wholesaler 
is so little understood or appreciated is plain when 
it is remembered that the general public seldom sees 
the inside of a big food jobbing house. Even the 
retail grocer, who is the connecting link between 
the wholesaler and the consumer, is almost a stranger 
to the real work of the wholesaler. And the reason 
for the retailer's lack of knowledge is that, as a 
rule, he comes in contact only with the selling end 
of the wholesale establishment and does not see 
what is going on "behind the scenes." 

The big wholesale grocery is really the very cen- 
ter of one of the most vital activities in the study of 
world-geography — the gathering of foods from all the 
countries of the globe and the distributing of them, 
in much improved forms, to the people of a state or a 
group of states. As a situation from which to study 
practical geography there is probably no other place 
in the world quite so well adapted as is a wholesale 
grocery. By practical geography, we mean the 
kind that throws a searchlight upon the real and 



478 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



important transactions in the world's trade, thus 
giving us an illuminated, world-wide view of the 
great currents and tides of international traffic in 
the things most necessary to man's life, health, and 
comfort— FOODS! 

Changing food forms. Because the plain, hard, 
physical labor performed by the wholesale grocery 




Grinding coffee. This is one of the lighter processes of changing food 
forms carried on in the city plant of a wholesale grocery house 

house in the way of cleaning and refining foods 
is so important, let us confine our attention at the 
outset to the work the wholesaler puts upon them 
as they pass through his hands. Later we shall look 
at the other form of labor which the jobber is called 
upon to include in the service he gives for the toll 
he takes. For the present, let us take a trip through 
the wholesale grocery with eyes alert for only one 
thing: the changes which foods in the wholesale 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 479 

plant undergo to make them more attractive and 
convenient for distribution. 

In the first place, the larger wholesale grocery 
houses, particularly those located in the business 
centers of big cities, are obliged, for the sake of 
economy, to maintain two separate plants. In both 
plants a certain amount of work is done in cleaning, 
refining, and otherwise changing foods. 

The plant in the center of the city is devoted mainly 
to distributing rather than to manufacturing. Here 
only the lighter processes of cleaning and changing 
of food forms are carried on. By far the larger 
part of this kind of work, especially its heavier and 
less interesting processes, are carried on at the other 
plant, commonly called the factory. Usually this 
plant stands either on the outskirts of the city or in 
some small suburban town having extensive shipping 
facilities and a sufficient supply of the right sort of 
labor. But if the wholesale house is not located in 
a large city, you are almost certain to find the dis- 
tributing and the manufacturing activities of the 
establishment carried on under one roof. This is 
sometimes true of grocery jobbing houses situated 
even in the large cities, although the tendency is to 
separate these two branches of work in the manner 
indicated. 

The wholesaler's work varies with the seasons. 
When you come to think about it, you will realize 
that it is clearly impossible for you to get more than 
a mere suggestion of the variety and scope of the 
work which the wholesale grocery puts upon foods, 
unless you go through the plant as often, perhaps, 
as once a month. The reason for this is that foods 
are seasonal to a peculiar degree — a fact which is 



480 THE STORY OF FOODS 

continually being reflected in the change of work 
going on in the wholesale house from week to week. 




Courtesy of U. 8 Dept. Agr. 

Sorting a big shipment of figs in a Smyrna packing house. On arriv- 
ing at the wholesaler's these Jigs must be cleaned and 
repacked before they are put on the market 

Almost every food brought from a foreign country 
arrives at about the same time each year. If you 
were to walk through the plant, for instance, just 
after the big shipments of figs had arrived from 
Smyrna, you might be inclined to think that a large 
share of the wholesaler's work was the cleaning and 
repacking of figs. But if you made your visit a 
month later, you would probably not see any figs 
at all in the packing room. Therefore, you may 
be sure that no matter how often you may make 
a geographic pilgrimage to the wholesale grocery 
house, you will find some new work in progress in 
the packing rooms which was missing from the 
scene when you were there before. 

A glimpse inside a wholesale house. Here is 
a glimpse of the actual work being done in one of 
the largest wholesale grocery houses in the Middle 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 



481 



West — a house having an auxiliary plant in a large 
manufacturing town near by where all the heavier 




In the laboratory of a wholesale house in the Middle West. .. The chemist 

plays an important part in preserving foods and changing 

food forms in a great grocery house 

work is done. The wholesale house proper is not 
far from the central part of the city and is the head- 
quarters of the selling, accounting, distributing, and 
administrative branches of the big enterprise. 

Preparing prunes for the grocer. A large part 
of the top floor of this marvelously equipped whole- 
sale house is given over to the work of cleaning, 
sorting, and packing prunes, figs, currants, and 
almost every other kind of dried fruit. Here we 
see men handling great cakes or cheeses of prunes, 
opening the original packages, breaking up the big 
solid masses, and putting them into a hopper from 
which they are automatically fed into a vat of boiling 
water. After remaining there for an instant they 
are lifted on a revolving screen and dropped into 

31 



482 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



another vat. This process is repeated six times. As 
the prunes come out of their sixth and last steaming 
bath they are not only well cleaned but are also 
immensely improved in appearance. This extreme 
care and thoroughness illustrates the progressive 
tendency of modern food manufacturers who are 
apparently alive to the value of making their prod- 
ucts not only scrupulously clean but attractive as 
well. The processing to which the prune is sub- 
jected certainly gives it an appearance which makes 
an unfailing appeal to the eye of the consumer. 

The remarkable machine in which many kinds of 
whole dried fruits are washed is capable of cleaning 
30,000 pounds of prunes a day. 

After their last bath, the prunes are automatically 




In the packing room of a wholesale house. Packing high-grade 
prunes for the retail grocer's display 

emptied upon a moving screen which acts as a con- 
veyor and at the same time dries them by shaking 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 483 

from them the last lingering drops of water. The 
conveyor dumps its burden into a clean bin where 




Fruits packed for thz retail grower. These boxes of dried fruit have 
been "faced" to give them an attractive appearance when displayed 

the fruit is shoveled into boxes which follow each 
other in quick succession on the platform of a pair 
of scales. Prunes above the ordinary grade are 
generally packed by girls, who put them into the 
boxes in orderly tiers so that they may make a pleas- 
ing and attractive appearance for display when the 
box is opened in the retail grocery. Sometimes 
only a few layers at the top of the box are arranged 
in this way, all the prunes underneath being put in 
loosely. This is called "facing." 

Currants from Greece. On this same floor are 
other machines, constructed along similar lines, 
which are especially designed for the cleaning of 
immense shipments of currants from Greece. A 
man about to break open one of the original packages 
pointed to the word "Cleaned" branded upon the 
side of the package. He laughingly explained that 
this was stamped on the package by the American 
Consul or his deputy. While the currants were 
undoubtedly cleaner than those sent to other coun- 
tries, they certainly did not come up to our present 
American standards of cleanliness in the matter of 



484 THE STORY OF FOODS 

foods. We learn that this particular shipment of 
currants being cleaned came from Patras, Greece. 

Cleaning and seeding raisins. Raisins receive 
a little different treatment, being given what may 
be called a Turkish bath. First they are placed in 
a room almost as hot as an oven and allowed to 
remain there until dry, at least on the surface. 
Next they are placed upon sieves in an automatic 
machine where they receive a violent and thorough 
shaking which frees them from dust, dirt, and sand. 
Then they are given a hot bath, after which those 
to be sold as seeded raisins are sent to the seeder. 
This machine, though small compared with that 
used in the raisin factory, will seed 300 pounds an 
hour. This machine is only one among many other 
ingenious devices that make up the equipment to be 
found in the modern wholesale grocery. 

Foods cleaned by hand. As we pass along in this 
large room we notice several girls standing, or sitting 
on stools, at a row of sinks. These girls handle the 
various nuts and dried fruits which can be cleaned 
to better advantage by hand. At present they are 
cleaning a consignment of large almond meats from 
Valencia, Spain. One of the workers tells us that the 
house also obtains almonds from Italy and California. 

A favorite from the tropics. Of all the dried or 
cured fruits that are brought to us from foreign 
countries probably none is in more urgent need of a 
good hot bath and similar attentions than dates. 
Dates begin their long journey in a torrid country 
on camel-back, continue it on a freight train, and 
are then perhaps stacked on the deck of a tramp 
schooner with the fierce sun beating down upon them. 
Next they are transferred to a regular ocean liner 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 485 

and finally reach the wholesale house with the sticky, 
sugary sirup oozing from every crack and crevice 
of the original package. This oozing begins in the 
oasis where the dates are grown. It continues 
throughout the trip across the desert, on wharves 
and docks, on the decks and in the holds of the 
vessels, in freight cars, and at every step of the long 
pilgrimage. By the time the package reaches its 
destination it is literally encrusted with a thick 
covering of combined sirup and dirt of about the 
consistency of tar. 

While the dates inside the package are consid- 
erably protected, still the dust and dirt penetrate 
to them. This is true only of bulk dates, and not 
of those packed in small and tightly sealed boxes 
before they leave Arabia. 

The process of cleaning dates is not essentially 
different from that of washing prunes, except that 
hot steam as well as hot water is used. 

As we pause at the elbow of a girl who is seeding 
and stuffing dates, and note the skill that is required 
to get the seed out without taking any of the meat 
along with it, we are greatly impressed by the pains- 
taking care with which this delicious food is pre- 
pared for our consumption. 

Making a reputation in the coffee trade. The 
coffee room is one of the most important places in 
any wholesale grocery house; this is not only because 
coffee constitutes an important commodity in the 
wholesale and retail food trade but also because the 
average consumer of coffee is probably more partic- 
ular about it than about any other article in his whole 
range of foods and drinks. Another consideration 
which emphasizes the importance of the coffee room 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 487 

is the fact that high quality in coffee, as the consumer 
sips it from his cup, is far more a matter of success- 
ful blending and roasting than it is of choosing just 
the right raw material, or natural berry. But it 
must not be understood that there is not a decided 
difference in the characteristics of the coffee beans or 
berries from the various coffee-growing localities. 

Any master of the art of blending and roasting 
can take a coffee which in itself would not make a 
pleasant drink and, by his clever and skillful blending 
with other varieties, produce the basis of a brew that 
will win high praise from the most exacting coffee 
drinker. This is admitted by coffee experts gen- 
erally and it is therefore easy to realize that the work 
done in the coffee room must be of the most expert 
and dependable character if the house is to make a 
notable reputation on its coffees; and this is usually 
what it tries to do if it is wide awake and progressive. 

Preparing coffee for the trade. The first thing 
done in the process of cleaning the raw bulk coffee 
berries is to send them through the separator. This 
machine operates on about the same principle as an 
old-fashioned fanning mill, or small grain separator. 
It consists of several rapidly shaking screens, and 
as the coffee passes over these the sand and dirt 
fall through the mesh while the chaff and dust are 
carried away by air suction. 

The coffee is dropped from the separators into the 
bins from which it is drawn for blending. After 
it has been blended, the coffee is elevated to the 
roasters where it is roasted for from fifteen to twenty 
minutes. The more modern roasters are so ar- 
ranged that a small stream of coffee is constantly 
trickling through an opening from which the expert 



488 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



in charge of the roasting may at any moment draw 
a sample. This he does frequently. 

From the roasters the coffee is dropped into a bin 
or bins below. It is on its journey from the bin 
to the compartments tapped by the sacking chutes 
that the coffee is freed from small stones and other 
particles too large to pass through the mesh of the 
separator's screens and too heavy to be carried off 
by air suction. 

This bin is really a big hopper {A-A), from the 
bottom of which a large pipe or conduit leads off 
at a downward slant, ending in a smaller bin (B). 
The pitch of this pipe is just sufficient to keep a 
stream of coffee moving steadily along. From the 





j. 


m i lil^|H^f Mm 


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«piit'Jfei 


'''W 


-\4Pi ?' J 4 


•T> t i . 


- f - 'J 




Y; Kv« ' ' 












Coffee roasters in a great wholesale grocery 

top of the smaller bin, into which the slanting con- 
duit — along which the coffee is carried by the force 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 



489 



of its own weight — empties, is a pipe (D-D) which 

leads to the big storage bins above. Through this 

pipe moves an upward 

suction of air, whose 

strength is so regulated 

that it is just sufficient 

to pull up the coffee 

beans, which have been 

lightened by roasting. 

At the same time, this 

air current allows the 

small stones and other 

heavier particles to 

slide along the remain- 

der of the slanting 

chute and drop into a 

still smaller bin (C). 

If the coffee is to be 
ground and sent out 
to the trade in sealed 
cans or airtight pack- 
ages, the hopper containing the blend will feed direct 
to the grinding machine. A coffee-grinding machine 
of large capacity is capable of turning out 1,000 
pounds of ground or steel-cut coffee a day. It is 
well to remember, however, that only about 10 per 
cent of the coffee sold is ground in the wholesale 
house. This is because ground coffee loses strength 
unless it is in airtight packages, and consumers 
usually wish to have the coffee berries remain whole 
as long as possible. By far the greater part of the 
coffee used is ground by the retail grocer for each 
individual customer. 

Unground roasted coffees are commonly sent out 




How coffee is carried to storage 
compartments by air 
suction 



490 THE STORY OF FOODS 

to the trade in drums that resemble in appearance 
small barrels or casks. These are also tightly sealed. 




In the packing room of a wholesale house. Here ground coffee for 
the retail trade is being put up in airtight containers 

Many retailers carry a small stock of unroasted 
coffees, which are sent to them in sacks, as it is not 
considered necessary to keep unroasted coffees in 
airtight packages. 

Spices. Now for a glance into the room where the 
wholesaler prepares his output of spices. Unless 
you have been in such a room, you may quite natu- 
rally imagine that the fragrance of the spices would 
be decidedly pleasant, but that is not true. When 
the spices are being ground they give out an aroma 
altogether too strong and pungent to be agreeable. 
It is even quite disagreeable to stay for any great 
length of time in the room where cinnamon is being 
ground, and this is the least offensive among all 
the spices. Usually each spice grinder is able to 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 



491 



turn out from 500 to 600 pounds of ground cinna- 
mon, cloves, or pepper a day. 

''That is what we call broken Cassia cinnamon,' ' 
explained the man in charge of the spice-grinding 
machines. "It is the kind that is almost invariably 
ground. Of course we also carry the fine Batavia 
cinnamon which is sold to the retailer unground or 
in what we call 'sticks/ " 

It is interesting to study the native materials 
used as wrappings for original packages from remote 
places, like the Moluccas (Spice Islands) and other 
islands of the South Seas, where most of the spices are 
grown. Cinnamon, for example, comes in packages 
containing about 100 pounds. The outer wrapping is 




Brown Bros. 

In the workshop of a South Sea island plantation. Here the native 

islanders sort and prepare stick cinnamon to be packed 

for shipment to the world's markets 

of rushes or bamboo. Each kind of spice usually has 
its own particular style of package and wrappings. 



492 THE STORY OF FOODS 

In spite of the fact that automatic scales are used 
to weigh the spices for the little packages or boxes 
in which they are to be sealed, the amount of work 
involved in putting the spices into their final con- 
tainers is by no means small. 

Pulverized sugar. The grinder that turns out 
pulverized sugar is a curious type of mill. Instead 
of having stones, burrs, or rollers to reduce the 
granulated sugar to the finer pulverized form, this 
clever device is so constructed that it forces the 
sugar crystals themselves to do the work of grind- 
ing by their friction against each other. An inter- 
esting feature of the pulverized sugar room is the 
nervous battery of bolters by which this finely 
powdered sugar is screened. The bolters are huge 
sifters covered with bolting cloth of varying degrees 
of fineness, through whose meshes the powdered 
sugar passes. 

Baking powder. The baking-powder mixer is 
simply a long cylinder inside of which revolves a 
corkscrew mixer or "agitator," which stirs and 
blends the ingredients of baking powder with 
systematic thoroughness. 

Tastes in tea. We cannot explore a large whole- 
sale grocery house for the particular purpose of 
learning just how much work the wholesaler puts 
on the foods he gathers from far and near before he 
passes them on to the retailer, and fail to visit the 
room in which teas are blended. While it is true 
that certain blends of tea are commonly used 
throughout the whole country, on the other hand 
it is hardly too much to say that many communities 
have developed individual tastes in tea. Perhaps 
one town will demand a special blend, which no 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 



493 



other place in the territory of that wholesaler re- 
quires. Very many times this is due to the 







An important work. Labeling special blends of tea that have 
been put up in convenient packages for the retail trade 

nationality of the inhabitants of the community. 
For example, a retailer in a locality largely settled 
by Russians would naturally carry a heavy black 
tea of a blend to be drunk with only a slice of 
lemon in it. On the other hand, a retail store- 
keeper in a typical New England town would be 
very sure to sell much more green tea than black. 
Again, this local taste is undoubtedly often fixed 
by what may be called social accident. For in- 
stance, some society leader in the town has a 
decided preference for a special blend of tea and 
is not backward about talking of its merits. Those 
of her friends who are inclined to follow her lead 
will scarcely fail to ask their own grocers for the 
brand of tea she serves. 



494 THE STORY OF FOODS 

But no matter how each community may have 
arrived at its preference for a certain kind of tea, 
the fact remains that the tea blender in the wholesale 
house must be able to keep close tab upon these 
various local preferences and so mix his materials 
as to satisfy each particular taste. In order to do 
this with the highest degree of success, he consults 
as frequently as possible with the traveling salesmen 
of the house and carefully considers with them the 
tea taste of each town in their territory. This 
information is all systematically recorded. 

The tea blender in the big wholesale house is essen- 
tially an artist in catering to individual and com- 
munity tastes in an article about which people are 
uncommonly exacting and sensitive. Therefore, his 
task is not an easy one. But it should not be in- 
ferred that every community demands an individual 
blend of tea not known and marketable in other 
towns; it is true, however, that many communities 
do demand an individual blend. 

Extending the olive market. Now let us take a 
look into the olive room, which is quite likely to be 
in the basement of the wholesale house unless the 
packing is done at the " factory." Indeed, you will 
probably find that nearly every wholesale grocery 
which maintains a separate factory handles olives 
there and in its main establishment also. Practi- 
cally all our green olives come from Spain. The 
Spaniards put them up in huge hogshead-like casks 
called " pipes," containing from 160 to 180 gallons 
of olives and brine. Only a very few retailers are 
able to handle olives put up in these big origi- 
nal packages. Consequently the wholesale grocers 
have the task of opening up the casks, grading and 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 



495 



washing the olives, and repacking them in smaller 
and more convenient and attractive containers. 




In the basement of a wholesale grocery house. These huge ''pipes 1 

or hogsheads contain olives from Spain waiting 

to be graded, washed, and bottled 

The grading and packing are done because the 
American consumer buys, in the matter of olives at 
least, on the score of appearance. If he feels he 
can afford the best he insists upon having a bottle 
of big, fat, selected olives for which the merchant is 
obliged to charge him a corresponding price. 

The consumer who must be careful in his expendi- 
tures goes to the other extreme and buys the smallest 
olives. If there is any actual difference in quality 
or taste between these two extremes it is usually 
too slight to be noticeable. By this process of 
grading and repacking bulk olives, the varied tastes 
and demands of consumers may be met at prices 



496 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



they can afford to pay. At the same time the 
jobber extends his own olive market and that of the 




Packing olives in a wholesale plant. Stuffing and packing olives 

in the attractive forms offered by the retailer are laborious 

processes and require deft and well-trained fingers 

retailer beyond the limit that would be possible if 
the ungraded bulk olives were put upon the market 
just as they are received. 

The stuffed olive is highly suggestive of the alert- 
ness with which the wholesale food merchant watches 
for an opportunity to put more work instead of less 
upon the materials that come to his hands, in order 
that they may make a still wider appeal to public 
taste. Not many years ago the stuffed olive was 
unknown; to-day almost every retail grocer in a 
town of any considerable size carries this delicacy 
as a staple. 

The wholesale grocer, looking for something new 
to make a fresh appeal to the fastidious consumer, 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 497 

tried a combination of the green olive and the sweet 
red pepper called pimiento, both imported from 
Spain. The result was so satisfactory that the idea 
proved to be little short of an inspiration. The work 
of removing the stones from the olives and insert- 
ing the little rolls of pimiento flesh is usually done 
by girls, as is also the packing of olives in bottles. 
Both are laborious processes and require deft and 
highly trained fingers to do them well and swiftly. 
As far as possible, the girls handle the olives either 
with little tongs or with forks, refraining from 
touching them with the fingers except when it is 
absolutely necessary. If in packing the olives any 
have been touched with the fingers, they are again 
washed before the final brine is poured in and the 
bottle sealed. This seems to be the rule in the 
olive rooms of all houses where olives are packed. 

Work in the factories. Where a wholesale food 
house maintains a separate factory, the work done 
there is more strictly manufacturing. In these 
factories, making jellies, jams, and preserves, putting 
up pickles, sauces, relishes, salad and meat dressings, 
and preparing nut butters of all kinds are only a few 
of the activities that the visitor may see at almost 
any time. 

Along one side of the factory you may see a long 
line of steam- jacketed kettles and caldrons stand- 
ing on a concrete platform, each kettle being so 
equipped that it may be mechanically tilted with 
the greatest ease by means of a lever. These huge 
kettles are of varying sizes and are employed in 
cooking almost every kind of food product manu- 
factured in the plant. At one time you may find 
practically all the large kettles devoted to cooking 

32 



498 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



ketchup, while at another time they may be filled 
with beans. The factory is probably never more 




Where preserves, jellies, and jams are made. Transforming peaches 
into preserves in the great kettles or caldrons at the manu- 
facturing plant of a wholesale food house 

savory than when some of the kettles are devoted 
to making confections composed mainly of maple 
sugar or maple sirup. 

A word to the wise. Please remember that in this 
hurried trip through the wholesale house — with just 
a peep through the door of the special factory where 
canning and preserving and pickling are the main 
lines of activity — you have followed only one single 
line of observation. That is, you have seen only 
what the wholesaler does to the foods which he sells 
to the retail grocer and the work required to make 
them more acceptable to the consumer from the 
standpoint of attractiveness, of convenience, of 
cleanliness, and of wholesomeness. 



WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 499 

Do not imagine for a moment that all of the work 
bestowed upon foods and food materials in the whole- 
sale house has been even hinted at in these pages. 
The pains the jobber takes to make foods more 
acceptable to the public could not be completely 
described in several times the amount of space occu- 
pied by this chapter. The information given here 
is intended rather to stimulate you and your geog- 
raphy teacher to make a visit to a large wholesale 
house on your own account and to discover its inter- 
esting activities with your own eyes, rather than to 
rest content with the few facts the chapter presents. 



Chapter XXXII 

WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 

The grocer's place in the town's business. Did 

you ever ask yourself what is the most important 
business carried on in your community? 

This is really about as vital a question as you 
could raise, because the answer forces you to learn 
the truth about a situation that has become obscured 
by false notions and traditions. Perhaps the easiest 
and surest way to get at the right answer to this 
question is to imagine yourself in a community 
wholly cut off from all the rest of the world, at 
least for the time being, and then ask: "In such 
stress, what business could we least afford to spare? " 

Only a little thought will be required to convince 
you that the grocer, or food merchant, would be 
the one man to whom all eyes would turn in such an 
emergency. Men and women can wait a long time, 
if obliged to, for most of the things they buy which 
are commonly called necessities, but they can wait 
only a little while for food. They must eat or they 
will perish! 

Most of us are in the habit of thinking that the 
banker, for example, is an important man. So he 
is. But there are many small towns that get along 
very well without a bank, using little actual money. 
Put to the same test every other business and you 
will soon see that selling foods is the only business 
absolutely necessary to the community all the time. 
It cannot be spared, even for a short time, without 
serious harm. 

500 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 501 

Possibly you will say that clothes are quite as 
necessary as food. The answer is that you could 
wait much longer for a new stock of clothes than for 
a new supply of food. 

The grocer's services varied. The notion is quite 
common that about all a retail grocer does is to 
deliver goods over his counter and take money in 
return for them. It is true that all his activities 
center around supplying the people of his locality 
with foods and that his motive for doing this is to 
make money. On the other hand, he does so much 
more than merely hand out goods and take in money 
that it would be a great injustice to him to look at 
his work in this way and fail to see the real impor- 
tance of his service to the community. 

The position of the wholesale grocer who dis- 
tributes food supplies to the people of his territory 
may be compared to that of a big bank which sup- 
plies money, through many smaller banks, to the 
people of the district in which it operates. The 
retail grocer is the link in the chain which connects 
the food producer with the consumer. We may 
aptly call him the country banker of foodstuffs. 

The grocer as a banker. But the retail grocer is 
far more than a banker in food supplies. In many 
instances he is also a money banker for his cus- 
tomers because he gives them credit; or, as the 
common phrase has it, he " carries them" on his 
financial shoulders. The length of time for which 
the grocer carries his customers depends largely upon 
local conditions, upon whether he is located in a city 
or a country town, and whether the customers get 
their money from mills and factories or from farms 
and ranches. The storekeeper in a manufacturing 



502 THE STORY OF FOODS 

town, where the men are paid by the week or month, 
does not usually give his customers credit for longer 
than thirty days. But, of course, in times of slack 
work or in hard times, he is often obliged to stretch 
his credit over several months. 

In the country districts, where the storekeeper's 
customers are mainly farmers, dependent upon their 
crops, the credits frequently run from harvest to 
harvest. In dairy districts where farmers get regu- 
lar monthly milk checks, as in manufacturing towns, 
thirty-day credits are the general rule. Often 
this really means that the grocer or retailer actually 
furnishes a large part of the money on which his 
community does business. In thousands of cases, 
grocers are actually paying interest on the money 
their customers owe them. Suppose, for example, 
that a storekeeper started in business, as many do, 
with almost all his capital invested in fixtures and 
equipment. This would mean, of course, that he 
would have to buy his stock on credit. Then, if 
he had to carry his farmer customers from one crop 
to another, he would soon be forced to borrow money 
to meet his bills at the wholesale house and thus 
keep his credit good at the source of supply. In 
case of a crop failure it is often necessary for the 
storekeeper to shoulder a double burden of credit 
and wait until still another harvest for his money. 
Sometimes this means a year and a half or even two 
years that the storekeeper must stand behind his 
unfortunate customers, furnishing them food until 
they succeed in raising a crop and marketing it. 

Banking, or financing his customers, is not 
unusual on the part of the storekeeper but an ordi- 
nary happening of trade. The storekeeper does not 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 503 

intend to do a banking business when he starts out, 
but circumstances draw him into it. He must do 
it for his own protection, to hold his trade together, 
until his customers succeed and pay their bills. 

Of course there are thousands of farmers and 
ranchmen who can and do pay their bills at the end 
of each month, as there are thousands of doctors, 
lawyers, laborers, and business men who settle their 
store accounts every thirty days; but almost every 
storekeeper must act as banker to a large part of 
his trade. If his customers all paid promptly, the 
storekeeper would not need to borrow money to 
carry them along, and would not only save the 
interest on this money but would be able to pay his 
own bills promptly enough to save the discount 
allowed for cash or prompt payment. 

It is quite natural to ask why the retail store- 
keeper does not require his customers to pay interest 
on their overdue accounts, thus offsetting the inter- 
est he must pay on money borrowed to carry them 
along. In many cases this is done, but it is not easy 
to carry out this plan in all instances, because the 
average storekeeper hesitates to ask a customer to 
pay interest. And the customer who, under ordinary 
circumstances, is good pay resents such a request 
from a storekeeper to whom he gives a substantial 
trade from month to month. 

The grocer as a warehouseman. The retail food 
merchant gives his community still another kind 
of service which is seldom recognized or appreciated 
by his customers. He acts as warehouseman, carry- 
ing reserve foodstuffs in a way that keeps them 
in good condition, ready to be dealt out in small 
quantities as they are needed by the consumers. 



504 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



He does more than this — he takes the risk of loss by 
breakage, by shrinkage, by waste in handling, and 




Where the grocer acts as a warehouseman. Reserve foodstuffs in a great 
retail grocery ready to be sent out to customers at a moment's notice 

by the general decay to which many food products 
are subject. Again, he is liable to loss by decrease 
in the market value of the goods themselves. This 
is the penalty he pays for being a food banker. 

Suppose your mother, like her mother or her 
grandmother, perhaps, was obliged to buy her stock 
of groceries and prepared meats for practically a 
whole year in advance, and not only buy them but 
store them in the house. Before that year's stock 
of foodstuffs was used, would not your mother be 
more than willing to give up all the profit of the retail 
grocer on those goods if she could only be saved the 
loss and waste of every kind and the bother of caring 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 505 

for them? There is little doubt that the retailer's 
profit on those goods would seem a small reward 
for all that she had been obliged to endure to secure 
the benefits of buying in quantity. A household 
experiment of this kind would show clearly just 
how much service the retail storekeeper gives to his 
customers by acting as a warehouseman and deliver- 
ing food supplies in small quantities and in fresh 
condition. 

Those who are inclined to believe that the retailer 
takes a heavy toll for his services should bear in 
mind that the retail grocer's rent or cost of providing 
a place in which to do business, his payroll for help, 
his taxes, his insurance, and even the money he must 
pay out in order to give his customers the long 
credit they demand by no means make up the total 
sum of his expenses. He is called upon to contribute 
to every cause in the community for which popular 
support is sought — church enterprises, the Fourth of 
July and other town celebrations, the village band, 
the high-school baseball and football teams, and all 
forms of charity. 

How the city retailer serves the public. Suppose 
we visit a high-class retail store and see just what 
the retailer is doing for his money. This is a fancy 
grocery in a large city — an aristocrat among retail 
stores. An obliging clerk will personally conduct 
us through the store. 

Notice close to the door those crates of French 
endive. You will see by the label on the box that 
they were imported from Belgium. Those alligator 
pears or avocados were brought from the West 
Indies. Over there on that long porcelain counter 
are piles of cucumbers, crisp heads of lettuce, 



506 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



Brussels sprouts, and many other varieties of gar- 
den products, all of the choicest. This is no special 




Brown Bros. 



In the market of a modern grocery. The vegetables to be found in a 

high-grade market of this type are choice products received 

daily from every part of our country 

display prepared for an unusual occasion, but merely 
the ordinary stock handled each day in this store. 

You ask where such wonderful vegetables were 
obtained. 

" Throughout the country," replies the clerk. "We 
have a number of experts in garden truck who 
visit our gardeners and select the choicest of their 
stock. About twenty-five gardeners are raising 
vegetables especially for us and the best of their 
product is shipped here. In order that we may not 
be handicapped by unfavorable conditions in any 
one locality, we are in touch with gardeners in every 
section of the country, and have buying stations in 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 507 

Florida, in Michigan, in California, in Texas, in 
New York, and all through the Middle West. Our 



A display of ready-to-eat foods. The pastries and other foods seen 

on these shelves and in these cases have been specially 

prepared for this high-class grocery 

growers raise the vegetables according to our in- 
structions. We furnish the seed and give explicit 
directions as to how each product is to be grown. 
This also applies to much of our fruit. We have a 
man raising peaches for us who is said to produce as 
fine a peach as any grown in America. In several 
states we have melon farmers who send us their 
finest fruit. 

"Our store has a woman cook who makes fancy 
pastry especially for us. Even our crackers are of 
a special quality. The woman receives fancy prices 



508 THE STORY OF FOODS 

for her pastry, and the cracker company charges a 
little more for the special crackers. We pay from 
20 to 100 per cent extra for the special foods pre- 
pared for us and also a large sum above the regular 
market price for everything that is accepted from 
the gardens, orchards, and fields of our special 
growers. Even the printer gets a bonus for putting 
extra care into the printing of our bags, labels, 
and boxes.' ' 

The small-town grocery. Now let us go into a 
typical small-town grocery store and market and see 
the foods handled there every day. 

First of all, we see several boxes of oranges and a 
box of lemons. At home we usually order a dozen 
oranges and perhaps a half dozen lemons, as we need 
them. The grocer tells us that the wholesaler ex- 
pects to sell at least a box of lemons at a time and 
more than one box of oranges. He also says that the 
shipper would not think of handling less than a 
carload of either of these fruits, while the grower 
expects to sell his entire crop to one buyer. Since 
few families would care to purchase several hundred 
lemons or a box or two of oranges at one time, we see 
plainly that the retailer is necessary in the handling 
of such fruits. 

There hangs a bunch of bananas. The retailer 
cannot buy fewer than a bunch at a time, the whole- 
saler must buy them by the carload, and the importer 
by the shipload. Few private families could afford 
or would wish to buy bananas by the bunch. So 
again we see how real economy is impossible without 
the local retailer. 

Notice the grocer's supply of nuts — walnuts, pea- 
nuts, pecans, almonds, and Brazil nuts. It would 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 509 

not be difficult to store a considerable quantity of nuts 
in one's home, but on account of their bulk it would 
hardly be advisable. A hundredweight of nuts is 
a very small order for the grocer to give a whole- 
saler, but a hundred pounds of nuts would be both 
an expensive and cumbersome item for the family 
larder. 

We see on the counter a generous supply of vege- 
tables — all brought in from the outlying truck farms 
early this morning. The grocer sent his delivery 
boy for them in an automobile. The boy called at 
several farms and truck gardens before he found 
just what he wanted. His speedometer showed that 
he traveled eighteen miles on that trip. Suppose 
before we could have string beans, fresh tomatoes, 
potatoes, and peas, we had to get up early in the 
morning and travel eighteen miles for them. Surely 
the retail grocer is a convenience, at least. 

On the next counter are a number of cantaloupes 
and osage melons from Michigan. They are espe- 
cially early ones, too, obtained from the city produce 
merchant at a fancy price. Our retailer had to buy 
a crate holding twenty-five of them. One family 
could not afford to take more than three or four of 
such melons. 

Balancing supply and demand. But, perhaps you 
think that if we were willing to wait a little, we 
could buy all these things much more cheaply in 
their natural season direct from the farmers who 
grow them. Perhaps we could, but it must be 
remembered that there are many parts of our coun- 
try where such things cannot be raised. Again, an 
unfavorable season will cause a scarcity of them in 
a wide territory. In our home town, the farmers raise 



510 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



good fruits and vegetables. But one year, for some 
reason, we had few tomatoes and very little corn, 



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^4w everyday scene in a high-class retail groceiy. A glance at the 

fruit section of this grocery shoivs how the surplus products of 

many localities collected by the wholesaler are utilized 

by retailers throughout the country 

and a blight seemed to have struck the cucumbers 
and melons. Yet a little later the grocers were selling 
these things at about the usual price and we really 
did not suffer from any scarcity of them. On the 
other hand, there were a hundred cabbages raised 
near here to every one that could be eaten. It looked 
as if cabbages could be had for nothing, for the truck 
farmers would have to throw them away. But 
retailers in other parts of our country would not 
permit that. The great majority of the cabbages 
raised in this vicinity were shipped away by whole- 
salers and bought by the retailers in other states 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 511 

where cabbages were scarce. Other communities 
had a surplus of melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes. 
So, in effect, through the wholesaler and retailer, the 
extra cabbages were being traded for the surplus 
tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons produced by the 
growers in other localities. 

Buying from the producer. Sometimes, especially 
when food prices are extremely high, consumers try 
to do without the retailer by buying as much as pos- 
sible of their table supplies from the producer. Per- 
haps this has been successful in some cases, but on 
the whole these experiments seem to show that both 
the producer and the consumer can make profitable 
use of the retailer's services. Generally when the 
consumer attempts to buy directly from the pro- 
ducer, he finds it necessary to pay almost as much 
for the eggs, the potatoes, or the poultry straight 
from the farm as the local retailer demands. At the 
same time he fails to receive many desirable things 
which the local grocer must furnish in order to hold 
his trade. Among these things may be mentioned 
experienced grading, packing, and handling, also 
credit, and delivery in small quantities at the con- 
venience of the consumer. 

If there is one special line of food distribution in 
which the retailer is indispensable, it is that of selling 
meats and fish. Were it not for the retailer, the 
average family would be compelled to go without 
fresh meat entirely, and the people living inland 
would find it practically impossible to serve fish on 
their tables. 

Buying in quantity. There are many purchases 
the housewife would find it wholly impossible to 
make if the retailer — and behind him the wholesaler 



512 



THE STORY OF FOODS 



— was not on hand to solve the troublesome problem 
of quantity buying. Many families, for example, 




In the cheese room of a wholesale grocery house. Cutting up big 
wheel-like cheeses into convenient size for the retail grocer 

like Swiss cheese. But a whole cheese of this kind 
weighs about 200 pounds. Only the largest retail 
grocery houses have enough trade to dispose of a 
whole Swiss cheese within a reasonable time. There- 
fore, the wholesaler cuts one of these big wheel-like 
cheeses into quarters or eighths for his various retail 
customers. In turn, the retailer cuts this section 
of a wheel into smaller pieces in order to meet the 
immediate needs of his Swiss cheese customers. For 
example, he sells Mrs. Smith, who has a large and 
growing family, two pounds of cheese at a time, and 
Mrs. Jones, who has no hungry boys and girls to 
demand Emmenthaler cheese sandwiches, a quarter 
of a pound. 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 513 

If Mrs. Jones could not buy so small a quantity 
of this cheese she would no doubt be obliged to go 
without it altogether. And while Mrs. Smith is able 
to use about eight times as much as Mrs. Jones, she, 
too, would find it necessary to deny herself this 
prized article of food if it were obtainable only in 
big sections, the size of the one bought by her retail 
grocer from the wholesaler. So the retailer — by pro- 
viding for the combination of many small purchases 
—places within reach of his customers many kinds of 
food they otherwise could not have. 

Even in so small an item as fowls the work of the 
retailer is important. Here is an example taken 
from personal experience. One day we bought a 
chicken from a dealer who made four cents on the 
transaction, but to earn that four cents he drove 
into the country for the chicken, paid cash for it, 
dressed it, and sold it on thirty days' credit. No 
doubt his margin of profit in this instance was a 
good deal below the average. 

You have already learned that before a great many 
kinds of foods reach the consumer they must pass 
through many processes. Of course you also under- 
stand that it would be impossible for a family to buy 
its tea, coffee, spices, and similar foods direct from the 
producers, and that it would be equally impossible 
for the jobber or the wholesaler to sell direct to the 
consumer. The wholesaler must handle millions of 
pounds of food every year and to attempt to sell it 
in one-pound lots would be impractical and com- 
mercially impossible. Then, too, the instant the 
jobber began to sell direct to the consumer he him- 
self would become a retailer, and would have to carry 
the retailer's expenses in one form or another and 

33 



514 THE STORY OF FOODS 

charge the retailer's prices. At the same time, it 
would be impossible for him to give the retailer's 
service. 

The grocer a local agent. When considering the 
service of the retailer, it is important to remember 
that he is really the local representative of the 
wholesaler, the manufacturer, the producer — and is 
right on the ground where he can be reached at first 
hand by every customer to give protection and 
satisfaction. 

The grocers profit and loss. It is common to 
consider the difference between the buying price 
and the selling price of the foods handled by the 
grocer, or his gross profit, as a tax on his customers 
for the service he renders them. After his expenses 
are deducted there will be a great difference between 
this so-called gross profit and his net or real profit — 
which represents his pay for his work, just as the 
street-car conductor's weekly wage is his pay. But 
the money or capital which the retailer has invested 
is really an assistant which demands its wage and 
gets it too. The retail food merchant must be 
repaid this outlay with a little extra for profit and for 
insurance against the risk that he takes. For the fact 
is, the retailer of foods of any kind is constantly 
losing money on account of various shrinkages. 

For instance, it is not uncommon to see a half 
dozen crates of strawberries sold at less than one 
third their normal price because the grocer fears that 
unless he sells them at once they will "go bad" on 
his hands. Of course, he loses money on such sales, 
and he constantly faces such conditions. 

Retailer and wholesaler partners. In a way, the 
retailer has the wholesaler back of him in the service 



WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 515 

he gives to his customers. How far the retailer can 
rely upon the wholesaler depends partly upon his 
character and standing, partly upon how far the 
wholesaler can afford to back him, and partly upon 
the local conditions of the trade. Looked at in one 
way the wholesaler and the retailer are partners. 
When the retailer finds that he must shoulder an 
unexpectedly heavy burden in carrying his farm 
customers over a crop failure, it naturally follows 
that he must lean still more heavily on the shoulders 
of the wholesaler. The wholesaler usually makes a 
reasonable response to this demand for additional 
credit because the retailer's business pays a profit 
to the wholesaler. He is therefore vitally interested 
in seeing the retailer retain his standing, his trade, 
and his customers. On the other hand, the retailer 
must bear his own burdens to a considerable extent 
and keep his standing good with the wholesalers 
from whom he buys his goods. This means that if 
he has not capital enough of his own to meet his 
needs, he must borrow it. Often the retailer is 
forced to borrow heavily as well as to ask credit of 
the wholesaler in order to carry his own customers 
over a period of hard times. 



THE INDEX 



Abyssinia: coffee, [map] 380; 
Mocha coffee, 369; spice, [map] 
446; wheat, [map] 38. 

Acorn: 418; flour for bread, 426. 

Aden: coffee market, 369; coffee 
port, [map] 380; tea port, 381. 

Africa: cayenne pepper, 454; 
cocoa, 404; dairy areas, [map] 
176; dates, 345; date palm 
products, 107; figs, 105; fruits, 
dried, imported, 345; harvest 
time, 39; nutmegs, 453; nuts, 
417; peanuts, 421. 

Alaska: fish, canned, 318; fishing, 
[map] 266; halibut, 259, 281; 
oats, 66; salmon, 283, 297; sal- 
mon hatcheries, 287; transpor- 
tation in, 35. 

Alberta: harvest time, 37; wheat, 
[map] 38. 

Albuquerque, primitive agricul- 
ture, 45. 

Alfalfa: food for poultry, 198; 
honey, 189. 

Algeria, ancient methods of har- 
vesting, 43. 

Alligator pears: 109, 110, 505; 
salad of, [illus.] 109. 

Allspice, 12. 

Almonds: 12, 418, 508; areas, 
[map] 446; groves, 417; importa- 
tions, annual, 417; oil from, 243; 
orchard in California, [illus.] 
418; paper-shelled, 415, 416. 

Amboina, cloves, 448. 

America: annual exports of dried 
fruits, 344; farm machinery in 
Siberia, 42; packing industry, 
207; production of oats, 66; rice 
grown in, 75; sardines, 265. 

Anchovies: 259, 272, 320, 466; 
fishing, [map] 266. 

"Angelique tubes", 356. 

Angus cattle, 202. 

Ankola coffee, 369. 

Appert's methods of canning, 315. 

Apples: areas, [map] 94; blossom 



time, [illus.] 90; canned, 324, 
336; crop, in the United States, 
91; dehydrated, 359; dried, 12; 
extract, 364; varieties of, 89; 
zone suitable for, 89. 

Apricots: 97; candied or dried, 97; 
dried, flavor of, 345; drying, 
[illus.] 346, 347; pulp, 466. 

Arabia: [map] 266; coffee country, 
[map] 380; coffee, Mocha, from, 
369; date palm, 107; dates, 87, 
107, 485; fruits, [mapl 94. 

Arctic Circle, grain grown, 69. 

Arctic Expedition, canned food 
used on, 336. 

Argentine Republic: coffee-con- 
suming area, [map] 380; corn, 
63, 64; cattle, 236; density of 
population, 236; fruit, [map] 94; 
harvest time, 39; meat produc- 
tion, 206; meat exportation, 230; 
mutton, 206; nuts, [map] 446; 
oats, 67; stock raising, 231; 
wheat, [map] 38; wheat exporta- 
tion, 46, 47; wheat hauling, 
[illus.] 49. 

Arizona: cereal production, [map] 
62; dairy production, [map] 148; 
dates, gathering, [illus.] 106. 

Arkansas: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; harvest 
time, 37; rice, 72. 

Arrowroot from Bermuda, 466. 

Artichokes, 127, 467. 

Asia: an American salesman in, 
[illus.] 222; fruits, dried, ex- 
ported to, 345; harvest time, 37; 
herring, 259; nuts, 417; West- 
ern, dates from, 345. 

Asia Minor: fruits, [map] 94; har- 
vest time, 37; olive native of, 
102. 

Asparagus: 127; bunching, [illus.] 
131; canned, 319, 320; dehy- 
drated, 359; shipping, 24. 

Assam: tea areas, [map] 380; wild 
tea, shrubs of, 389. 



516 



THE INDEX 



517 



Australia: apples sent to, 91; 
coconuts, [map] 446; coffee-con- 
suming area, [map] 380; cur- 
rants, dried, 354; fishing, [map] 
266; fruits, [map] 94; fruits, 
dried, exported to, 345; harvest 
fields, [illus.] 52; harvest time, 
37; nuts from, 419, [map] 446; 
raisins, 354; roselle, 120; sheep 
raising, 231; sheep ranch, [illus.] 
232; stock raising, 201, 205; tea- 
consuming area, [map] 380; tea 
culture, 393; trade routes from, 
[map] 20; wheat, 46, [map] 38 

meats: consumed per capita, 232; 
exported, 232; production, 202, 
200, 231. 

Austria-Hungary: coffee-consum- 
ing area, [map] 380; dairy area, 
[map] 176; English walnuts, 419; 
fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 
94; harvest time, 37; nuts, 
[map] 446; prunes, 95; rye crop, 
68; spices, 445; sugar beets, 435. 

Avalon: fishing, [map] 266; tuna 
fish, 263. 

Avocado: 109, 110, 505; salad 
made of, [illus.] 109. 

Bacon: preparation, 224; West- 
phalian, 465. 

"Bagasse", 431. 

Bahamas: fruits, [map] 94; pine- 
apples, 115. 

Baking powder, blending of, 492. 

Balkhash Lake: 221, [map] 204. 

Bamboo, 63, 130. 

"Banana messengers", 29. 

Bananas: 87, 107, 508; annual 
importation, 30; areas, [map] 94; 
dehydrated, 359; plantation, 
[illus.] 108; ship, 29; shipping, 
[illus.] 10, 25, 26, 28, 29, [illus.] 
33; sugar in, 441. 

Barbados gooseberries, 114. 

Bar-le-duc, 465. 

Barley: 69-70, 246; annual pro- 
duction of, 69; bread, 70; food 
value of, 70; harvest in Norway, 
[illus.] 69; used in coffee substi- 
tutes, 410. 



Barscz, Polish, 365. 

Bass: black, 257; sea, 257; striped, 
257; summer-caught, 278; win- 
ter-caught, 278. 

Batavia, cinnamon stick, 491. 

Beans: 13, 127; canned, 137, 324; 
dehydrated, 359; family, 128; 
lima, canning, [illus.] 336; oil, 
244; pork and, canning, 326; 
soy, shipping, [illus.] 129; string, 
509. 

Beechnut, oil from, 243. 

Beef: 13, 229; and onions, canned, 
320; broth, preparing, [illus.] 
213; capsules, 362; extract, 226; 
fresh, special cars for, 26; roast, 
473; story of, 207. 

Beefsteak, food value, 252. 

Bees: 187; frame of, [illus.] 190; 
hives, [illus.] 189, [illus.] 191; 
ranch in California, [illus.] 188. 

"Bee trees", 191. 

Beets: 127, [illus.] 138; canned, 
337; culture, and soil improve- 
ment, 434; dehydrated, 359; 
greens, 130; sugar, see Sugar 
beets. 

Beet-sugar industry, 434. 

Belgium: butter, 162; canned veg- 
etables, 466; cheese, 170; cotton- 
seed oil, 242; dairy area, [map] 
176; endive, 132, 505; harvest 
time, 37; importations of wheat, 
46, 48; oysters, 299; sugar beets, 
435; wheat, [map] 38. 

Beluga, caviar, 273. 

Bengal quince, 101. 

Bergamot, 101. 

Berkshire hogs, 203. 

Bermudas, arrowroot from, 466. 

Bern: cheese depot in, 179; dairy 
center, [map] 176. 

Berries: 118; canned, 318; dehy- 
drating, 360; dried, 347, 354. 

Bill-of-f are : forms of wheat on, 
51, 52; with the map, 9. 

Birds'-nests: edible, 471; soup of, 
471; swallows' nests, [illus.] 471. 

Bismarck herring, 262. 

Black bass, in Chicago market, 
257. 



518 



THE INDEX 



Blackberries: 118, 355; see also 
Berries. 

Black walnut: 418; growth of, 414. 

Bladder weed, 258. 

Blending: baking powder, 492; 
cocoa, 409; coffee, importance 
of, 487; honey, 192; milk for 
cheese, 186; teas, 492. 

Bloaters: in Chicago market, 257; 
Newfoundland, 261. 

Blueberries: 118; dried, 354. 

Bluefish, 257. 

Bohemia, the cheese of, 185. 

Borage, 130. 

Borer, enemy of oyster, 307, 308. 

Bouillon cubes: 219, 358; wrap- 
ping, [illus.] 362. 

Brailing salmon, 291, [illus.] 292. 

Brazil: cocoa, 404, [map] 380; 
coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, 
see Coffee; fruits, [map] 94; 
manioc, 135; manioc roots, 
[illus.] 135; meat exportation, 
206; nut area, [map] 446; nuts, 
see Brazil nuts; peanuts, 421; 
tea, 393; wheat importation, 46. 

Brazil nuts: 421, 508; area, [map] 
446; cargo of, [illus.] 420; impor- 
tation, 417, 421; oil from, 243. 

Bread: acorn, 426; at delicatessen, 
473; barley, 70; chestnut, 426; 
corn, 61; rice, 77; rye, 67; soy 
bean, 129; see also Flour; Meal. 

Breadfruit, 111. 

Breakfast foods: 78-86; after 
seventeen years in Arctic, 338; 
cooking, [illus.] 80, [illus.] 83. 

Brie cheese, 171, 177. 

"Brisling", 265, 272. 

British Columbia: harvest time, 
37; salmon, 283, 297; salmon 
trollers off coast, [illus.] 288. 

British East Africa, two-wheeled 
wheat cart, 34, 35. 

British Gold Coast Colony, cocoa, 
404. 

British India, spices, 445. 

British Isles: apples, [map] 94; 
apples exported to, 91; coffee- 
consuming area, [map] 380; fish, 
annual catch, 254; fishing, [map] 



266; fruits, [map] 94; pears ex- 
ported to, 92; raisins consumed, 
351; tea consumed, 384; tea- 
consuming area, [map] 380; wal- 
nuts, [map] 446; wheat, [mapl38. 

British South Africa, canned lob- 
ster from, 275. 

British West Indies, salt imported 
from, 462. 

Brittany: dairy area, [map] 176; 
sardine catch, 265. 

Broccoli, 127. 

"Broilers", 199. 

Brussels sprouts, 127, 467, 506. 

Buckwheat, honey from, 189, 192. 

Buffalo, packing center, 220. 

Buffalo: milk used for cheese, 185; 
used for plowing, 45. 

Buffalo fish, roe of, 273. 

Bulgaria: dairy area, [map] 176; 
harvest time, 37; prunes, 349; 
wheat, 48, [map] 38. 

Burbank, Luther, and fruit cul- 
ture, 123. 

Burma: harvest time, 39; honey, 
192; wheat, [map] 38. 

Butter: 12; annual production in 
United States, 162; exportation 
of, 162; factory in Holland, 
[illus.] 160; fat in milk, 146; fat 
in oleomargarine, 227; making, 
ancient and modern, 159, [illus.] 
159; on subway freight train, 
[illus.] 162; rank of each state in 
output, [map] 148; renovated, 
162; storing, in warehouse, 
[illus.] 161. 

Butterfish, in Chicago market, 
257. 

Buttermilk: 149, 160; for "milk- 
fed" poultry, 198. 

Butternut, 418. 

Butter oil from cottonseed stearin, 
241. 

By-products: of meat, 213, 225, 
226; of packing industry, 226. 

Cabbage: 13, 127, 510, 511; dehy- 
drated, 359; family, 127; mar- 
keted by wagon, [illus.] 23; seed 
culture, 142, 144. 



THE INDEX 



519 



"Cacao" tree, 403. 

Cactus : fruits, 113; hedgehog, 114; 
sugar in, 441; torch-, 114. 

Caerphilly cheese, 185. 

Calamatas dried currants, 354. 

Calcutta, chutney, 464. 

California : almond orchard, [illus.] 
418; bee ranch, [illus.] 188; 
canned goods, 319; cereals, 
[map] 62; cherries, 27; currants, 
354; dairy production, [map] 
148; fig orchard, irrigating, 
[illus.] 104; figs, 104, 345, 356, 
466; fruits, canned, 318; fruits, 
classes of, 347; garden truck, 
507; harvest time, 37; lettuce 
seed harvest, [illus.] 140; melons, 
121; nectarines, 93; olive oil, 238, 
240; olive trees, 102; orange 
grove, [illus.] 98; oranges, 87; 
oysters, 309; peaches, drying, 
[illus.] 344; pilchard, 265; 
prunes, 349; raisins, 350, 354, 
[illus.] 350; salmon, 297; salmon 
hatcheries, 287; spinach, 28; 
trade routes through, [map] 20; 
vineyards, 116, 117; watermelon 
patch, [illus.] 120. 

Calimyrna figs, [illus.] 105. 

Camel: draft animal, 34, 43, 45; 
drawing reaper in Siberia, [illus.] 
42; milk used for cheese, 165; 
plowing with, in Palestine, 
[illus.] 41. 

Camember cheese, 171, 175. 

Canada: apples, [map] 94; butter 
making, 162; Cheddar cheese, 
185; codfish, 271; fishing, [map] 
266; harvest time, 37, 39; her- 
ring, 259; lobster, importation 
of, 275; mackerel, 268; meat pro- 
duction, 206; oats, 66; oysters, 
299; stock raising, 205; Western, 
range cattle, [illus.] 236; wheat, 
[map] 38; wheat exported, 46. 

Cancale: fishing, [map] 266; oyster 
beds, [illus.] 301. 

Candied fruit, 356, [illus.] 357. 

Candied honey, 192. 

Candle nut, how eaten, 420. 

Candy: after-dinner, 472; output 



in America 437, exports, 438; 
factory inspection, 437. 

Cane sugar: at factory, [illus.] 432; 
crusher, [illus.] 431; production 
in Southern States, 439; ship- 
ping, [illus.] 429, [illus.] 430, 
[illus.] 438; sirup from, 433. 

Can-filling machines, [illus.] 326. 

Cangany, in a Ceylon tea garden, 
393, [illus.] 394. 

Canned foods: 313-340; in deli- 
catessen, 473; keeping qualities, 
339; meats, 217, 218, 220; oats, 
story of, 81; on Arctic expedi- 
tion, 336, 337; vegetables, 137. 

Canneries : American, annual out- 
put of, 317; capacity of, 335; 
clamping lids, [illus.] 327; de- 
livering tomatoes at one of the, 
[illus.] 133; number in the 
United States, 317; trip through, 
322-331. 

"Canners": see "Scrubs." 

Canning: corn, assorting for, 
[illus.] 319; food conservation 
by, 334; harvesting peas for, 
[illus.] 314; harvesting toma- 
toes for, [illus.] 323; home, 
[illus.] 322; home, encouraged 
by government, 339, 340; indus- 
try begun, 314; machine, auto- 
matic", 218; methods of, 326; 
milk kept by, 332; tins used for, 
313; salmon, 293; sweet corn, 
annual output of, 65; unload- 
ing salmon for, [illus.] 248; var- 
iety of foods increased by, 316. 

Cantaloupe: 120, 509; shipping, 24. 

Capers, 467. 

Cape Sheridan, 338. 

Caprification of fig trees, 105. 

Capri fig trees, [illus.] 88. 

"Captains Courageous", fisher- 
men's life in, 248. 

Carambola, 109. 

Cardoon, 130. 

Carinthia: cheese of, 186; dairy 
area, [map] 176. 

Carolinas: herring roe, 261; rice 
production, 72. 

Carp, 257. 



520 



THE INDEX 



Carrageen, 257, 258. 

Carrots: 127; dehydrated, 359; 
in cans, 320, 337, 466; in truck- 
garden, [illus.] 138. 

Cars: fresh-meat, 26; refrigerat- 
or, 23; special, for special foods, 
23, 24, 25; tank, 26. 

Cashew apple, 112. 

Cashew nut, 420. 

Cassava, 135. 

Cassia cinnamon, 453, 491. 

Catalina Island, tuna fish, 263. 

Catfish, roe of, 273. 

Cattle: breeds of. 202; herd of, 
[illus.] 201; in Germany, 233; in 
the Argentine, 230, 231; "na- 
tive steers," 208; raising, 236, 
237; range, in Canada, [illus.] 
236; rounding up, in the South- 
west, [illus.] 209; shipment, 25; 
total head in United States, 229. 

Cauliflower: 127; canned, 467; 
dehydrated, 359; seed culture, 
144. 

Caviar: 465; preparation, 272; 
[illus.] 273. 

Cayenne (French Guiana) : pepper 
area, 454; spice port, [map] 446. 

Cayenne pepper, 454. 

Celebes: coffee, [map] 380; nut- 
megs, 452; spices, [map] % 446. 

Celery: 127; grown in France, 143; 
in dehydrated salad, 358; in 
truck garden, [illus.] 138. 

Central America: bananas, jour- 
ney, 30, [illus.] 33; coconuts, 
[map] 446; fruits, [map] 94; 
nuts, 417. 

Cepes, canned, 467. 

Cereal: areas in the United 
States, [map] 62; drinks, wheat 
used in, 52; foods, 69, 86; prep- 
arations for breakfast, 79. 

Ceriman, 111. 

Certified milk, 157. 

Ceylon: cinnamon, 453; cocoa, 
404; coffee, 369, [map] 380; 
fishing, [map] 266; spices, [map] 
446; tea, [map] 380, see also Tea. 

Chakva, Russian tea region, 397, 
[map] 380. 



Cheddar, cheese, 184, 185. 

Cheese: 12, 164; blended milk, 
186; buffalo milk, 185; cutting 
for retailing, [illus.] 512; display 
in grocery house, [illus.] 170; 
domestic, 472; European, 146; 
factories in Wisconsin, 166; fac- 
tory, interior, [illus.] 165; "for- 
eign style," 169; goat's milk, 
165; hooping, [illus.] 165; hoops, 
removing, [illus.] 167; horse 
milk, 165; odd types, 185; rank 
of each state in value, [map] 
148; refrigerator in wholesale 
house, [illus.] 178; Roquefort, 
172, [illus.] 174; Roquefort in 
cave, [illus.] 172, [illus.] 173. 
[illus.] 175; sheep's milk, 146, 
165; states producing, 166; 
sources of, 186; varieties, 170, 
171, 176, 184, 185. 

Cheese making, 164-168. 

Cherimoya, 112. 

Cherries: 95; assorting for can- 
ning, [illus.] 335; candied, 466; 
canned, journey of, 337; dehy- 
drated, 359; dried, 354; glace, 
356; special shipment, 24, 27. 

Cherry blossom time in Japan, 
[illus.] 96. 

Cherry season in Germany, 96. 

Chesapeake Bay: herring roe, 261; 
oyster beds, yield, 309; oyster 
fleet, [illus.] 300; oysters in for- 
eign lands, 300. 

Cheshire cheese, 184. 

Cheshire-Stilton cheese, 184. 

Chestnuts: 418; area, [map] 446; 
candied, 465; canned, with 
sausages, 320; distribution, 414; 
flour of, 426; water-, 419. 

Chicago: fish market, 256, [map] 
266 : market for cocoa, coffee, and 
tea, [map] 380; packing center, 
219, [map] 204; trade routes 
through, [map] 20; Union Stock- 
yards, 209. 

Chicken: gumbo, 362, [illus.] 331; 
in delicatessen, 473; relative 
cost of, 253. 

Chickens: milk-fed, 153, 198; 



THE INDEX 



521 



newly hatched, [illus.] 196; 
ranch, 195. 

Chicory: family, 131; in beverages, 
411. 

Chile: apples, [map] 94; coffee- 
consuming area, [map] 380; 
fishing, [map] 266; harvest 
time, 37; nuts, 419, [map] 446; 
walnuts, 419; wheat, [map] 38. 

Chilling room in packing house, 
[illus.] 212. 

China: bamboo, 130; birds'-nest 
soup, 471; cassia, 453; coconuts, 
[map] 446; dates, 107; delica- 
tessen, 474; endive, 131; fishing, 
[map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; 
ginkgo nuts, 419; harvest time, 
37; honey, 193; kumquat, 98, 
356; litchi nuts, 419; noodle 
soup, 471; peanuts, 421; raisins, 
345; rice, 73, 74; soy bean, 128, 
244; spices, 445, [map] 446; tea, 
[map] 380, see also Tea; trade 
route through, [map] 20; water- 
chestnut, 419; wheat, 48, [map] 
38; workers in Packingtown, 
219, [map] 204 

a ncient: harvesting, 43; sugarcane 
grown, 428; wheat grown, 40; 
wooden plow of, 44. 

Chinook, the salmon king, 283. 

Chinooks, mild-cured, 297. 

Chocolate: cube, dehydrated, 359; 
manufacture of, 404. 

Chosen, soy bean grown in, 244. 

Chufas, 132, 421, 422. 

Chum salmon: 283; of Siberia, 298. 

Chutney, route of, 464. 

"Cinco", 409. 

Cinnamon: 12; bark, 442, 453; cas- 
sia, 491; grinding, 490; harvest- 
ing, 453; preparing for market, 
[illus.] 453, [illus.] 491; shipping, 
453. 

Cisco, 257, 278. 

Citrange, 100. 

Citron: 100, 101; candied, 356. 

Citron melon, 120. 

Citrous fruits, 101. 

Clams: canned, 337; fishing, [map] 
266; in market, 257. 



Clover, honey-yielding, 189. 

Cloves: 12, 442, 447; culture, 447; 
curing, 447; gathering, [illus.] 
449; picking, [illus.] 445. 

Cocks' combs, 465. 

Cocoa: 402; commerce in, [map] 
380; consumption of, 404, 410; 
curing, [illus.] 407; food value, 
410; manufacture, 404-408; 
sources, 404; uses, 403. 

Cocoa beans: drying, 408; grow- 
ing, 405; as money, 409; pods, 
[illus.] 405; pods, gathering, 
[illus.] 403; pods, removing 
from, [illus.] 406; preparing for 
roasting, [illus.] 409. 

Cocoa factory, a visit to, 408. 

Coconut: meat imported, 417; oil 
from, 243; shredded, annually 
consumed, 425; world areas, 
[map] 446. 

Coconut palms: group of, [illus.] 
422; products from, 423. 

Coconuts: how planted, 422; 
rafts of, 33, 424, [illus.] 424. 

Codfish: boning tables, [illus.] 271; 
curing, 271; drying, [illus.] 262; 
fishing, [map] 266; how caught, 
270; in Chicago market, 257; 
protein value, 252; relative 
cost, 253. 

Coffee: 12; altitude influences, 
376; areas, [map] 380; bill for, 
national, 376; blending, 372, 
487; carriers in wholesale house, 
[illus.] 489; chemical composi- 
tion, [table] 373; consumed in 
United States, 410; consuming 
areas of the world, [map] 380; 
countries, 369, 370, 375; drying 
at Sao Paulo, [illus.] 376; drying 
plantation at Cordoba, [illus.] 
372; exporting and importing 
countries, [map] 380; grinding in 
wholesale house, [illus.] 478; 
Java, 373; keeping qualities, 
338; loading ship at Santos, 
[illus.] 367; Mocha, 373; Mocha, 
a coffee port, [map] 380; pack- 
ing in containers, [illus.] 490; 
picking, in Brazil, [illus.] 371; 



522 



THE INDEX 



plantation, 370, [illus.] 374; 
powdered, 359; quality deter- 
mining trade, 366, 485; roasters 
in wholesale grocery, [illus.] 488; 
roasting for flavor, 373; screen- 
ing, 488; substitutes, 410, 411, 
427. 

Coffee (beverage) : first drinkers, 
368; French, 375; hot, at deli- 
catessen, 473; of nuts, 427. 

Coho, or silver salmon, 283, 297. 

Cold storage plant: butter in, 
[illus.] 161; frozen fish in, [illus.] 
280; poultry from, 199. 

Collard, family of, 127. 

Colombo: handling tea in, 18; tea 
port, 18, 381. 

Colorado: cereal production, [map] 
62; dairy production, [map] 148; 
harvest time, 37; peach orchard, 
[illus.] 92; picking pears, [illus.] 
91; ranch, "Bar Circle Bar" 
brand, 208. 

Columbia River: fish- wheel, [illus.] 
290; salmon, 297, 318; scene on, 
[illus.] 284. 

Condensed foods: 358; usefulness, 
362, 364. 

Condensed milk: 332; rank of each 
state in output, [map] 148. 

"Copra" from coconuts, 425. 

Cordoba: coffee-drying plantation 
at, [illus.] 372; coffee market, 
[map] 380. 

Corinth, 354, [map] 176. 

Corn: 60-65, 127, 510; assorting 
for cutting machine, [illus.] 319; 
bread, 61; canned, 319; dehy- 
drated, 358, [illus.] 360; ensilage 
made from, 65; field, 61; food 
value, 61; green, canned taken 
on Arctic trip, 336; grinding, 
Papago Indian, [illus.] 60; in 
coffee substitutes, 410; kitchen, 
at Paris Exposition, 61; meal, 
61; mush, 13; on ear, canned, 
467; poultry food, 198; pre- 
historic origin of, 60; products 
from, [diagram] 63; sugar in, 
441; sweet, 61; sweet, and toma- 
toes, [illus.] 137; used by Cliff 



Dwellers, 60; uses, 61; yield in 
United States, 61. 

Corned beef: demand for, 217; 
preparation at canning plant, 
217, 218; tinned, from sealing 
machine, [illus.] 217. 

Corn oil: 238, 244; production in 
United States, 244; cake, 244. 

Coromandel gooseberry, 109. 

Costa Rica: banana plantation, 
[illus.] 108; bananas, annual ex- 
port, 28; bananas, loading cars, 
[illus.] 10; coffee, 369; coffee 
area, [map] 380. 

Cotton: in Egypt, 242; products 
from, [diagram] 241; seed, load- 
ing, [illus.] 240; seed, pulp, for 
stock food, 241. 

Cottonseed oil: annual production, 
240; exports, 242; imports, 242; 
manufacture, 241, 242; special 
cars, 25; uses, 242. 

"Cove oysters", 301. 

Cowpea, family of, 128. 

Cows: breeds best for dairy, 158; 
Holstein, on model dairy farm, 
[illus.] 152; Holstein, pure-bred, 
[illus.] 158; milch, used for farm 
work, 181, [illus.] 182; milk, food 
properties of, 146; milk of, for 
cheese, 146, 165; Swiss herd, on 
way to pasture, [illus.] 180. 

Cowslip, use of, 130. 

Crabapple, wild, one of the de- 
scendants of, [illus.] 89. 

Crab meat from Japan, 275. 

Crabs: 259; canned, taken on Arc- 
tic trip, 337; fishing, [map] 266; 
from Pacific coast, 256. 

Crackers: 12; special, 508. 

Cranberries: 12, 118; dehydrated, 
359; sauce of, on Arctic trip, 
337; states producing, 120. 

Cranberry bog: 118; pickers in, 
[illus.] 119. 

Crappies, in Chicago market, 257. 

Cream: 149; pasteurized, 153; 
separator in a modern dairy, 
[illus.] 147. 

Creamery, handling milk products 
in, 147, 149. 



THE INDEX 



523 



Creamery butter, 161. 

Cream nuts: see Brazil nuts. 

Cream of tartar, 13. 

Cretes de coq, 465. 

Crusher, sugar cane, [illus.] 431. 

Crystallized fruits, 357. 

Cuba: cocoa, [map] 380; coconuts, 
[map] 446; coffee, [map] 380; 
fruits, [map] 94; harvest time, 
37; honey from, 193; pineapples, 
115; spices, [map] 446; sugar 
from, 438. 

Cucumbers: 127, 505, 510, 511; 
pickle factory, [illus.] 329; pick- 
ling, 330. 

"Cultch", oyster, [illus.] 306. 

Currants: 118; Calamatas, 354; 
dried, 354; drying, treatment 
for, 347; Grecian, 345, 483; 
name, 354. 

"Custard apple": see Avocado. 

Cyprus: [map] 38, [map] 176; har- 
vest time, 37; sugar cane grown 
in ancient times, 428. 

Dairy: modern, cream separator 
for, 147, [illus.] 147; special cars 
for products of, 25. 

Dairy cows in Wisconsin, number 
of, 166. 

Dairy farm: electric milking ma- 
chine used on, [illus.] 150; inte- 
rior of up-to-date stable, [illus.] 
151; model, 151, [illus.] 152; silo 
on, [illus.] 64. 

Dalmatia: dairy area, [map] 176; 
figs raised in, 104. 

Dandelion: family, 131; use of, 
130. 

Danube regions, wheat exported 
from, 46. 

Date-and-nut paste, 362. 

Date garden in Arizona, [illus.] 
106. 

Date-nut butter from Persia, 465. 

Date palm, 106. 

Dates: countries producing, 87, 
106, 345; drying makes market 
for, 342; grown in United 
States, 107; importation, 107; 
journeys of, 484, 485; preparing 



of, for camel train in the Sahara, 
[illus.] 486; preparation for trade, 
484, 485. 

Deer on a game preserve, [illus.] 
458. 

Deglet Noor dates, 107. 

Dehydrated foods: dinner of, 
358; preparation of, 359. 

Delaware, canned fruits from, 318. 

Delicacies, tempting, 11, 463. 

Delicatessen: 463; geographical 
suggestions in, 463; "interna- 
tional salad," articles for, [illus.] 
466; " ready-to-eat " meal from, 
472. 

Denmark: bacon exported, 206; 
butter making, 162; cheese, 170; 
dairy area, [map] 176; harvest 
time, 37; oysters, 299. 

Department of Agriculture, "meat 
figures" investigated by, 228. 

Dessert, dehydrated, 359. 

Dextrines made from corn, 65. 

Dog salmon, 283. 

Dog train carrying supplies in 
Alaska, [illus.] 35. 

Dordogne: dairy region, [map] 176; 
truffles from, 468. 

D'Orpagon, melon, 122. 

Dredging for oysters, 311. 

Dried fruits: 341-357; annual pro- 
duction in United States, 343; 
economy in, 342; "faced," [illus.] 
483; importance to the Indian 
and pioneer, 343, 344. 

Drumfish, enemy of the oyster, 
307, 309. 

Drying: a cheap process of pre- 
serving, 341; extended use of 
fruit by, 341. 

Drying fruit in the sun, [illus.] 348. 

Ducks, wild, 199. 

Dulse, preparation of, 257. 

Duluth: fish market, [map] 266; 
herring, fresh-water, 261. 

Durum wheat, 50, 55. 

"Dust" grade of tea, 397. 

Dutch: in struggle for spice trade, 
448; see also Netherlands. 

Dutch East India Company, tea 
introduced by, 383. 



524 



THE INDEX 



Dutch East Indies: coffees, 369; 
spice market, 445. 

Dutch girls in Holland butter fac- 
tory, [illus.] 160. 

Dutch West Indies, salt imported 
from, 462. 

Dutch windmill, [illus.] 58. 

"Earth nuts", 421. 

East India: carambola, 109; Coro- 
mandel gooseberry, 109. 

East India Company and tea cul- 
ture, 392. 

East Indian relish, route of, 464. 

East Indies: cassia, 453; coconuts, 
[map] 446; coffee, 375, [map] 
380; dates, 107; fruits, [map] 94; 
nuts, 418; red pepper, 455; 
spices, [map] 446; tea, [map] 
380. 

East St. Louis, a packing center, 
220. 

Edam cheese, 171. 

Eel, in Chicago market, 257. 

Eggplant: family, 128 ; gathering, 
for market, [illus.] 127. 

Eggs: 12; dehydrated, 358; dev- 
iled, 473; food value, 253; from 
poultry ranches, 195. 

Egypt: coffee-consuming area, 
[map] 380; cotton, 242; figs, 105; 
fruits, [map] 94; harvest time, 
37; lentils, 134; modern tractor 
used in, 41; sugar cane, 429; 
threshing in, [illus.] 44; wheat, 
[map] 38; workers in Packing- 
town, 219, [map] 204 

ancient: barley cultivated, 69; 
methods of harvesting, 43; 
methods of milling, 55; wheat 
the chief crop, 39; wheat placed 
in tombs, 40. 

Egyptian melon, 121. 

Elephant apple, 101. 

Emmenthaler cheese: daily out- 
put of Alpine factory, 180; 
making of , 179; "weeping," 180. 

Endive: family of, 131; French, 
from Belgium, 505. 

England: anchovy paste, 272; 
canned goods, exportation of, 



320; cheese, 170; dairy area, 
[map] 176; density of popula- 
tion, 236; dried fruit exported 
to, 344; English walnut, 419; 
harvest time, 37; herring, 259; 
honey, 190, 193; how fed, 233; 
intensified farming, 48; live- 
stock industry, 202; live stock, 
pedigreed, 205; mackerel, 268; 
meat supply, 234, 236; orange 
marmalade, 465; oysters, 299, 
310; pork, 203; rice, preparation 
of, 77; salt, 461, 462; sauces, 
465; seed growing, 142; spice 
market, 445; trade routes from, 
[map] 20; truffles, 468. 

English pheasants: 200; flock of, 
[illus.] 200. 

English Queen melon, 122. 

English Stilton cheese, 184. 

English walnut: 416, 418; areas, 
[map] 446; native countries, 
419; orchard in New York, 
[illus.] 416, 417; shelling and 
grading, [illus.] 415. 

Ensilage on dairy farm, 65. 

Erfurt: market, [map] 176; seed 
culture, 139. 

Ethiopia: coffee area, [map] 380; 
coffee paste balls, 369. 

Euphrates River: in wheat area, 
[map] 38; valley of, wheat an 
ancient crop, 40. 

Europe: cocoa annually consumed, 
405; cranberries grown, 120; 
dairy industry, [map] 176; 
lobster, 275; nuts, 417; rye 
harvest, [illus.] 68; vegetable 
seeds cultivated, 138; wheat, 
[map] 38. 

Evaporated milk, 332. 

Exports: apples, 90; apricots, 97 
breakfast foods, 86; butter, 162 
candy, 437, 438; corn, 61 
cottonseed oil, 242; cranberries 
120; dried fruits, 344; meat 
229; nuts, 417; oats, 66, 67 
oranges, 97; oysters, 299, 300 
peaches, 92; pears, 92; prunes 
95; raisins, 350; salmon, 297 
wheat, 46, 47. 



THE INDEX 



525 



"Facing": boxes of fruit, 349, 
[illus.] 483; prunes, 483. 

"Facings" of tea, 399. 

"Fannings", grade of tea, 397. 

Farming, intensified, 48. 

"Feeders" for beef cattle, 208, 211. 

Feeding stations for poultry, 196. 

Figs: 12; Calimyrna, packed for 
shipment, [illus.] 105; Capri, 
[illus.] 88; countries producing, 
87, 104, 345, 356; drying, 342, 
[illus.] 342; imports, earliest, 
355; orchard, irrigating, [illus.] 
104; packing, at Smyrna, [illus.] 
355; pickled, from California, 
466; preserved, 356, 466; sort- 
ing, in Smyrna packing house, 
[illus.] 480; varieties, 104. 

Filberts, 417, [map] 446. 

Finland: dairy area, [map] 176; 
honey produced in, 187. 

Fish: canned, 316, 318; canning 
methods, 326; comparative cost, 
252; domestic preparations in 
delicatessen, 472; economy in, 
252; eggs, from Russia, 465; 
freezing, 277; fresh, 277; fresh- 
water, 259-281; from foreign 
waters, 259; from home waters, 
259; frozen, in cold storage 
plant, [illus.] 280; glazed, 277, 
[illus.] 278; how caught in win- 
ter, 280, 281; ladder, [illus.] 
286; market, geographical sur- 
vey in, 255; meat substitute, 
233, 251; mixed, from Italy, 
472; nets, drying, [illus.] 254; 
salt-water, 259, 281; special 
cars for shipping, 25, 30; sum- 
mer-caught, 277, [illus.] 279; 
supply of England, 234; trans- 
portation, early, in Austria, 31; 
tunny, 471; wheel, on Colum- 
bia River, [illus.] 290; winter- 
caught, 278, 279, 280. 

Fisheries, sardine, along coast of 
Yezo, [illus.] 264. 

Fishermen: life of, in Captains 
Courageous, 248; offshore, buy- 
ing from bait 'boat, [illus.] 251; 
sea, perils, 247. 



Fishing industry: inherited occu- 
pation, 249; importance, 254. 

Flail: hand, 45; threshing with, 44. 

Florida: canned pineapple, 318; 
cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- 
tion, [map] 148; fresh pine- 
apple, 115; garden truck, 507. 

Flounder, in Chicago market, 257. 

Flour: chief product of wheat, 50; 
made by prehistoric man, 55; 
mill, development of, 56; mill- 
ing, 53; mills in Minneapolis, 
[illus.] 54 

produced from: acorns, 426; barley, 
70; chestnuts, 426; corn, 63; 
lentils, 134; millet, 71; nuts, 
426; peas, 134; rice, 77; rye, 
68; soy bean, 128; wheat, 50, 
53, 54, 55. 

"Flower" cheese of England, 186. 

Flower seed: culture, in England, 
142; in Erfurt, 139; in Holland, 
143, 144. 

"Flush", picking the, 386. 

Foodstuffs, reserve, in retail gro- 
cery, [illus.] 504. 

Food values: barley, 70; beef- 
steak, 252; cocoa, 410; cod, 
252; corn, 61; haddock, 252; 
halibut, 252; milk, cow's, 146; 
potato, [table] 76; rice, [table] 
76; rye, 68; salmon, 253; soy 
bean, 246; wheat, government 
tests for, 54. 

Formosa: see Taiwan. 

Fort Conger, canned goods found 
at, 338. 

Fowl, wild, 199, 200. 

France: anchovy, 272; anchovy, 
pepper-stuffed, 259; apples, 
[map] 94; apples imported by, 
91; apricots, candied, 97; apri- 
cots, dried, 97; artichokes, 
canned, 467; bar-le-duc, 465; 
brussels sprouts, 467; canned 
goods, 320; capers, 467; cepes, 
467; cheese, 170, 186; cheese 
industry an inherited occupa- 
tion, 169; cherry, 95; cherries, 
candied, 466; chestnut flour used 
in, 426; chestnuts, [map] 446; 



526 



THE INDEX 



cocks' combs, 465; coffee-con- 
suming area, [map] 380; coffee 
as served in, 375; cottonseed 
oil consumed, 243; cottonseed 
oil exported, 243; dairy area, 
[map] 176; delicatessen, special- 
izing in foods from, 473; endive 
imported from, 131; fishing, 
[map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; 
fruits, candied, 356; fruits, dried, 
exported to, 344; harvest time, 
37; honey, 190; lima beans, in 
jars, 467; olive farcies, 466; olive 
oil, annual importations, 240; 
olive trees, 238; oyster culture, 
299, 304, 310; peanut oil, 243; 
peanuts, production of, 421; 
peas, canned, 466; pignolias, 
419; preserves, fancy, 465; 
prunes, 95, 349; rose leaves, 
preserved, 471; sardines, 265; 
saucisson de foie gras, 471; seed 
culture, 142, 143; sorrel, 470; 
spice market, 445; spinach, 
canned, 466; sugar-beet culture, 
435; sugar making, schools for. 
435; truffles, 468; tunny fish, 
471; vineyards in, 116; walnuts, 
419, [map] 446; wheat, 46, 
[map] 38; wine, 118. 

Freezing room: for halibut, [illus.] 
250; of a wholesale fish market, 
[illus.] 278. 

French Guiana, cayenne pepper 
native of, 454. 

Fresh-meat car, equipment of, 
26. 

Fresno: figs, 105; fruit center, 
[map] 94; olive orchard near, 
[illus.] 102. 

Frog legs, in Chicago market, 257. 

Fruit: areas, [map] 94; candied, 
356, [illus.] 357; choice selection 
of, [illus.] 125; countries sug- 
gested by, 87; crystallizing, 357; 
dehydrated, 363; drying, 346, 
347, [illus.] 348; "facing" boxes 
of, 349; "glace," 356; modern, 
evolution of, 123; oils from, 
238; preserved, fancy, 465; 
special cars for, 25; spices from, 



451; see also names of fruits; 

uncut, curing of, 348 
canned: 316; better than fresh, 

shipped, 317; most healthful, 

337; sources of, 318 
dried: 341; cured in the sun, 348; 

faced, [illus.] 483. 
Fruit section of modern grocery, 

[illus.] 510. 
Frumenty, preparation of, 79. 

Game, potted, source of, 320. 

Game birds, 199. 

"Gamma! ost", 170. 

Garden patch, world's interna- 
tional, 143. 

Gardens: date, in California, 106; 
tea, 17, 383, 384, 385, 392; tea, 
in Ceylon, [illus.] 394. 

Garden truck: from California, 
507; obtaining, for small-town 
grocery, 509. 

Garlic in dehydrated salad, 358. 

"Garum", 272. 

Geese, wild, 199. 

Gelatine, 226. 

Gelidium seaweed, 258. 

Georgia: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; harvest 
time, 37; rice production, 72. 

Germany: anchovy paste, 272; 
apples, 91, [map] 94; butter- 
making country, 162; caviar, 
Russian, exporting, 273; cheese, 
185; cherry season, 96; coffee- 
consuming area, [map] 380; corn 
on ear, bottled. 467; cotton- 
seed oil consumed, 243; dairy 
area, [map] 176; English walnut, 
419; farming, intensified, 48; 
fishing, [map] 266; fruits, dried, 
exported to, 344; harvest time, 
37; herring, 262; lentils, 134; 
meat consumed annually, 233, 
235; meat, exportations and 
importations, 233; oats, 66; 
oysters, 299, 304; peanut oil, 
243; prunes, 95; rosebuds, pre- 
served, 471; rye, 67, 68; sar- 
dellen paste, 259; saucisson de 
foie gras, 471; stock raising. 233; 



THE INDEX 



527 



sugar-beet culture, 435; sugar- 
beet field, [illus.] 423; tea-con- 
suming area, [map] 380; trade 
routes from, [map] 20; truffles, 
468; vegetables, canned, 465; 
vineyards, 116; walnuts [map] 
446; wheat, 46, 48, [map] 38; 
wine, 118. 

Gherkin, family of, 132. 

Gill nets, salmon fishing with, 
289. 

Gill netters in harbor, [illus.] 289. 

Ginep, 99. 

Ginger: 12, 442; crystallized, 465; 
in sirup, 465. 

Ginkgo nut, 419. 

Gloucester: drying codfish, [illus.] 
262; fishing banks, [map] 266; 
herring fisheries, 261. 

Glucose, 65. 

Gluten: corn, 244; spring wheat, 
53. 

Goats: milk of, for cheese, 146, 
165; Swiss herd, on way to 
pasture, [illus.] 180. 

Gooseberries: 118; Barbados, 114; 
Coromandel, 109; dried, 354. 

Goose livers, potted, 470. 

Gorgonzola cheese, 177. 

Gouda cheese, 186. 

Government contracts for meat, 
221. 

Government inspectors: see In- 
spector. 

Government tests : of tea, 398-401 ; 
of wheat, 54. 

Grains: 36-77; beverages from, 
410, 411; roasting, for cereal 
coffee, [illus.] 411. 

Granulating room in sugar re- 
finery, [illus.] 433. 

Grapefruit, 100, 101. 

Grape industry, importance of, 
117. 

Grape juice, annual consumption 
in United States, 411. 

Grapes: annual imports from 
Spain, 117; canned, taken on 
Arctic trip, 337; countries pro- 
ducing, 116; glace, 356, 465; 
raisin, drying in sun, [illus.] 



350; sugar in, 441; table, trans- 
portation of, 24; Tyrolese farm- 
er with load of, [illus.] 117; 
varieties, 116. 

Great Britain: see British Isles. 

Great Lakes: fishing [map] 266; 
fresh-water herring, 261. 

Great Salt Lake product, 460. 

Greece: cheese, value of, im- 
ported from, 186; currants, 
483; currants, dried, annual 
production, 354; dates, 107; 
figs, 104, 105, 356; fruits, 
[map] 94; harvest time, 37; 
honey imported from, 193; 
raisins, 345; wheat area, [map] 
38; workers in Packingtown, 
219, [map] 204 

ancient: anchovy sauce, 272; 
barley, 69; milling in, 55. 

Greely, General, experience of, 
with canned foods, 336. 

Greens, vegetables used for, 130. 

Grinding coffee in wholesale 
house, [illus.] 478. 

Grinding spice, 454. 

Grinnell Land, canned foods for 
expedition to, 338. 

"Groats", 83. 

Grocery: in pioneer days, [illus.] 
13; interior, of to-day, [illus.] 
15; staples in early days, 12 
staples of to-day, 14 

retail: city, services rendered, 505 
country, stock of, 14; food< 
stuffs, reserve of, [illus.] 504 
journey of tea to, 21; journey 
of tea from, 21; small-town, 508 
see also Retailer 

wholesale: baking powder manu- 
factured in, 492; canning, 497; 
cheese, cutting, for retail trade, 
[illus.] 512; coffee, feature of,485; 
coffee grinding in, [illus.] 478; 
coffee packing room, [illus.] 490; 
coffee roasters, [illus.] 488; cur- 
rants prepared for retailer, 483; 
dates, process of handling, 485; 
glimpse inside, 480; laboratory 
of, [illus.] 481; manufacturing 
plant, 475; olive pipes in 



528 



THE INDEX 



basement of, [illus.] 495; olives, 
preparation for the trade, 495, 
497; preserving, 497; prunes, 
packing, [illus.] 482; prunes, 
preparation of, 481; raisins, 
seeding, 484; spices handled, 
490; sugar pulverized, 492; tea 
blended, 492 - 494 ; tastes in tea, 
individual, 492; see also Whole- 
saler. 

Ground cherry, 132. 

Ground nuts, oil from, 243. 

Guatemala: coffee, 369, 375, [map] 
380; coffee, exported to the 
United States, 376. 

Guava: 112; jelly, countries fur- 
nishing, 112, 465; tree, 112. 

Guernsey milk, 158. 

Guiana, Brazil nuts from, 421. 

Guiana, French, cayenne pepper 
from, 454. 

Guiana maize, 71. 

Gulf of Mexico, fish from, 257. 

Haddock: 257, 271; fishing, [map] 
266; protein value of, 252. 

Haiti: coconut area, [map] 446; 
spice area, [map] 446. 

Hake, 271. 

Halibut: fishing, [map] 266; frozen, 
in Pacific coast plant, [illus.] 
250; in Chicago market, 257; 
protein value of, 252; smoked, 
13, 259; summer-caught fish, 
278. 

Ham: boiled, from delicatessen, 
473; Christmas, of little Nickol, 
221-223; smoked, 223, 253; 
story of, 223: Westphalian, 465. 

Hampshire hogs, 203. 

Hampshire sheep: 202; Downs, 
flock of, [illus.] 203. 

Hanover tea sausage, 465. 

Harvest: calendar of world's 
wheat, 37, 39; fields of Australia, 
[illus.] 52; in California almond 
orchard, [illus.] 418; in Kansas, 
[illus.] 36; of nutmegs, 451; of 
the world, 36; on a Hawaiian 
pineapple plantation, [illus.] 115; 
wheat, 52. 



Harvesting: 43; barley in Norway, 
[illus.] 69; cinnamon, 453; coco- 
nuts, 423; cranberries, 119; in 
Algeria, [illus.] 43; in India, 45; 
lettuce seed in California, [illus.] 
140; oats grown on a former 
range, [illus.] 85; onions, [illus.] 
126; on steppes of Siberia, [illus.] 
42; peas, [illus.] 314; rye, [illus.] 
68; tomatoes for the cannery, 
[illus.] 323. 

"Hasty pudding", 13, 61. 

Hatcheries, salmon, 287. 

Hawaiian Islands: fishing, [map] 
266; fruit, [map] 94; pineapple, 
canned, 318; pineapple planta- 
tion, [illus.] 115; sugarcane, 429; 
sugar from, 439; trade routes 
from, [map] 20. 

Hazelnut: 414; oil from, 243. 

Herbs grown in France, 143. 

Hereford, dairy cows, 202, [map] 
176. 

Herring: 259; Bismarck, 262; 
dried, 13; fishing, [map] 266; 
importations, 259; in Chicago 
market, 257; marketing, 261; 
roe of, 261; salt-water fish, 281; 
tinned, 263. 

Hickory nut: 418; distribution, 414. 

Hogs: as pork, 215; English 
breeds, 203; in Germany, 233; 
inspection of, 215; in the Argen- 
tine, 23 1 ; on United States farm, 
[illus.] 230; Poland China, [illus.] 
215; special cars for, 215; Tarn- 
worth, [illus.] 215; total in 
United States, 229. 

Holland: see Netherlands. 

Holsteins: a pure-bred cow, [illus.] 
158; dairv farm stocked with, 
[illus.] 152; milk from, 158. 

Hominy: canned, after seventeen 
years in Arctic, 338; product of 
corn, 61. 

Honey: 187; bees, consumers of, 
187; color, 188; countries pro- 
ducing, 189, 190, 192, 193, 467; 
flavor, 188; forms, 192; frame of, 
[illus.] 189; frames, removing 
from hives, [illus.] 191; handling, 



THE INDEX 



529 



191; importation, annual, 193; 
Mount Hymettus, 190; poison- 
ous, 190; quality of, 188; 
storage, 187. 

Honey-yielding plants, 187, 189, 
190. 

Hong Kong, tea market, 381. 

Horse: carrier of food, 34; flesh 
eaten in Europe, 235; milk of, 
146; milk used for cheese, 165; 
motive power for tractors, 43. 

Horseradish in dehydrated salad, 
358. 

Huckleberries, 118. 

Humpback salmon, 283, 298. 

Hungary: meat, 201; paprika, 455, 
466; salami, 465. 

Ice cream powders, 359. 

Ice creams in delicatessen, 473. 

Iceland : fishing, [map] 266; waters, 
herring from, 260. 

Idaho: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; dried 
berries from, 355. 

Illinois: canned goods, 319; cere- 
als, [map] 62; dairy production, 
[map] 148; fish, 30; harvest 
time, 37; oats, 66. 

Imperial Tea Estate, 397. 

Imports, annual: bananas, 30; 
Brazil nuts, 421; candy, 438; 
canned goods, 316; cattle, 229; 
cheese, 186; coconuts, 425; 
coffee, 370, 375, 376; dates, 107; 
dried fruits, 344; figs, 105; 
grapes from Spain, 117; herring, 
259; honey, 193; lobster, 275, 
meat, canned, 316; meat, 
dressed, 230; nuts, 417; olives; 
101; olive oil, 101, 239, 240; 
pepper; 445; prunes, 349; 
raisins, 350; rice, 72; salt, 462; 
sheep, 229; spices, 445; sugar, 
438; tea, 383; wine, 118. 

India: coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, 
369, [map] 380; cotton seed ex- 
ports, 242; fishing, [map] 266; 
harvest time, 37; pepper, 454; 
rice, 73; soy bean, uses, 128; soy 
bean oil, imported from, 245; 

34 



spices, [map] 446; sugar cane, 
429; tea, [map] 380, see also 
Tea; trade route through, [map] 
20; wheat, 39, 46, [map] 38; 
workers in Packingtown, 219, 
[map] 204 

ancient: harvesting in, 43; sugar 
known, 428; wooden plow, 44. 

Indiana: canned goods from, 319; 
cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- 
tion, [map] 148; harvest time, 
37. 

Indianapolis, packing center, 220. 

"Indian corn", 60; see also Corn. 

Indians: agriculture, primitive, 45; 
corn cultivated by, 60; fruits 
dried by, 343, 344; salt used by, 
457. 

Infants' food, barley in, 70. 

Inspector: English Government, of 
tea, 19; of cannery, 327; of 
cattle brands, 211; of certified 
farm, 158; sampling oats, meth- 
od of, 81 

United States Government: of candy 
factories, 437; ol meats 212, 216; 
of milk, 158, 362; of operations 
in packing plant, 215; of salmon 
canneries, 296; of sheep, 215; of 
swine, 215; of tea, 19, 398, 400. 

"International salad": [illus.] 8; 
articles used in making, [illus.] 
466. 

Iowa: canned goods, 319; cereals, 
[map] 62; dairy production, 
[map] 148; fish, 30; harvest 
time, 37; oats, 66. 

Ireland: dairy area, . [map] 176; 
fishing, [map] 266; mackerel, 
268, 269. 

Irish potato, family of, 135. 

"Iron Chink": feeding salmon to, 
[illus.] 295; preparing salmon 
with, 293. 

Italy: anchovy, 272; canned goods, 
320; cheese, 170, 177, 186; 
chestnut flour, 426; coffee-con- 
suming area, [map] 380; cotton- 
seed oil consumed, 243; dairy 
area, [map] 176; figs, 104, 105, 
356; filberts, [map] 446; fishing, 



530 



THE INDEX 



[map] 266; fruits, [map] 94 
fruits, dried, exported to, 345 
harvest time, 37; macaroni, 466 
olive farcies, 466; olive oil, 238 
239; oyster fishing in, 299 
peanuts, 421; pignolias, 419 
rice, manner of serving, 77 
roundfish, 270; salt, 462; tomato 
paste, 466; truffles, 468; vermi- 
celli, 466; vineyards, 116; wal- 
nuts, 419; wheat, [map] 38; 
wheat, importer of, 46; wine, 
118. 

Jackfish: drying nets, [illus.] 254; 
fishing, [map] 266. 

Jamaica: coconuts, [map] 446; 
coconut palms, group of, [illus.] 
422; honey, 193; manioc plant, 
135; spices, 445, [map] 446; 
women carrying produce, [illus.] 
31. 

Jamaica cucumber, 132. 

Jams: 497; from England, 320. 

Japan: barley, 70; cayenne pepper, 
454; cherry-blossom time, [illus.] 
96; crab meat, 275; fishing, [map] 
266; harvest time, 37; honey, 
193; implements, 45; kanten, 
258; kumquat, 98; kumquat 
jam, 466; loquat, 95; manioc 
plant, 135; oyster farming, 310, 
311; oyster production, 299; 
peanuts, 421, [map] 446; per- 
simmons, 102, 345; rice, diet of 
people, 74; rice planters at work, 
[illus.] 74; sardine fisheries at 
Yezo, [illus.] 264; sardine indus- 
try, 265; soy bean, 128, 244; soy 
bean oil, 244; tea, [map] 380. 

Java: cocoa, 404, [map] 380; coffee, 
369, 375, [map] 380; fishing, 
[map] 266; peanuts, 421; pepper, 
454; rice growers with shoulder 
•poles, [illus.] 32; spices, [map] 
446; sugar cane, 429. 

Jellies: 497; from England, 320. 

"Jerked" meat, exportation of, 
206. 

Jersey milk, 158. 

Johnny-cake, 61. 



Kale: in Holland, 144; leaves, 130. 

Kangaroo tail, canned, 469. 

Kansas: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; harvest 
field, [illus.] 36; harvest time, 37; 
sugar-beet factory, [illus.] 436. 

Kansas City: packing center, 220. 

Kanten, uses of, 257, 258. 

Karabunar (Bulgaria), drying figs 
at, [illus.] 342. 

Kieffer pears, orchard of, in Colo- 
rado, [illus.] 91. 

Kelp, use of, 257, 258. 

Kentucky: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; flock of 
Hampshire Downs, [illus.] 203; 
harvest time, 37. 

Ketchup, 320. 

Kohl-rabi, family of, 128. 

"Kombu", soup, 258. 

Korea: see Chosen. 

Kosher-killed cattle, 214. 

Kumquat: 98, 100; candied, from 
China, 356; jam, from Japan, 
466. 

Kyoto: tea garden, 385, tea port, 
[map] 380; tea, green, curing, 
388. 

Labeling: can, importance of, 331; 
• oats, 84; special blends of tea, 

[illus.] 493. 
Laboratory of wholesale grocery, 

[illus.] 481. 
Lake, Balkhash, 221. 
Lake Fusaro, oyster culture in, 303. 
Lake Superior, fish-salting plants, 

261. 
Lard: 12; cottonseed oil with, 242. 
Latticini cheese, 185. 
Laver, preparation of, 258. 
Leek, family of, 131. 
Leicestershire: cheece made in, 

184; dairy district, [map] 176. 
Lemon extract, 13. 
Lemons: 12, 99, 100, 508; washing 

by machinery, [illus.] 99. 
Lentil: family of, 134; from Egypt, 

134; soup, dehydrated, 358. 
Lettuce: 127, 505; seed, harvest- 
ing, in California, [illus.] 140. 



THE INDEX 



531 



Levant: pomegranate, 103; raisin 
sugar, 441. 

Lima beans: in jars, 467; in prepa- 
ration for canning, [illus.] 336. 

Limburger cheese: 185; domestic, 
166. 

Limes: 99, 100; gathering, in West 
Indies, [illus.] 100. 

Lincoln Sea, Peary expedition, 338. 

Liptau cheese, 185. 

Lissu, honey obtained in, 192. 

Litchi nut, importations of, 419. 

Live stock: industry, 201; see also 
names of domestic animals. 

Lobster: breeding of, 274; catch- 
ing, 274; fishing, [map] 266; 
importation of, 275; in Chicago 
market, 257; industry, 274. 

Loganberries, dried, 354. 

Lombardy: dairy area, [map] 176; 
Gorgonzola, 178. 

London, packing house branch, 
221 

Long Island Sound, oyster beds in, 
309. 

Longhorn cattle of Texas, 202. 

Loquat: see Plum. 

Louisiana: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; figs, 104, 
356; oysters, 310; rice produc- 
tion, 72; tabasco pepper, 455. 

Lutefisk, 270. 

Macaroni: 50; baked, in delica- 
tessen, 473; factory, scene in, 
[illus.] 51; from Italy, 466. 

Mace, 451. 

Mackerel: fishing, [map] 266; from 
northern seas, 268; how caught, 
269, 270; relative cost, 253; 
summer-caught fish, 278. 

Madrid: packing-house branch, 
221. 

Maine: canned products from, 318; 
cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- 
tion, [map] 148; intensified 
farming, 48; lobsters, 274; sar- 
dines, 265. 

Maize: 60; products, shipment of, 
25. 

Maize, Guiana, 71. 



Malaga: [map] 176; raisins, impor- 
tation of, 350. 

Malay Peninsula: pepper from, 
454; tea, [map] 380. 

Malay pirates in spice regions, 
450. 

Malt used in coffee substitutes, 
410. 

Malted milk, tabloid, 359. 

Manchuria: fishing, [map] 266; 
grinding wheat, [illus.] 57; ship- 
ping soy beans in, [illus.] 129. 

Mandheling coffee, 369. 

Mangel-wurzels in France, 143. 

Mangoes: 110, [illus.] 110; dried, 
345. 

Mangosteen, 111, [illus.] 111. 

Manioc: product, 135; roots, 
[illus.] 135. 

Manitoba: harvest time, 37; 
wheat, [map] 38. 

Manitoba, Lake, winter-caught 
fish, 279. 

Maple sirup, 498. 

Maple sugar: 439, 440, 498; camp 
in New England, [illus.] 440. 

Market place, [illus.] 12. 

Marmalade, 465. 

Marne, cheeses made in, 177. 

Martynia, 132. 

Maryland: canned fruits, 318; 
cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- 
tion, [map] 148; mackerel, 269. 

Meal: corn, 61; cottonseed, 241; 
lentil, 134; manioc root, 136; 
nut, 426; oat, 65; pea, 134; rice, 
77; soy bean, 129; wheat, 55. 

Meat: 201; balls, potted, 470; car, 
interior of, [illus.] 26; consump- 
tion, 231, 232, 233; countries 
producing, 201, 202, 205; cured, 
223; cured, special cars for, 25; 
dressings for, 497; eating, na- 
tional character in, 228; export- 
ing countries, 206, 231, 232; 
extract, 219; industry, England 
nursery of, 202; foreign, demand 
for, 230; government contracts 
for, 221; pickled, 223; potted, 
320; preparing, for broth, [illus.] 
213: products, distribution of, 



532 



THE INDEX 



221; relative cost, 252; salted, 
223; scrap, for poultry food, 
198; statistics, 228; sterilizing 
tank, [illus.] 218; supply, for 
increased population, 234; tab- 
lets, 362; world-wide distribu- 
tion, 205. 

canned: 316; from Holland, 320; 
prepared in Packingtown, 220; 
supplying the world, 220; varie- 
ties, 220. 

Mediterranean Sea: anchovies, 
pepper-stuffed, 272; sardines, 
264, 265; tunny fish, 263. 

Melons: 120, 510, 511; from 
abroad, 421; d'Orpagon, 122; 
raised for retailer, 507. 

Melon thistle, a cactus fruit, 114. 

Mexican strawberry, a cactus 
fruit, 114. 

Mexico: ancient, use of cocoa 
in, 402; ancient, use of tomato 
in, 133; cocoa, [map] 380; 
coconuts, [map] 446; dates, 107; 
fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 
94; guava, 112; harvest time, 
37; honey, 193; mangoes, dried, 
345; meat, from, 206; prickly 
pear, 113; red pepper, 455; rice, 
method of serving, 77; spices, 
445, [map] 446; sugar cane, 429; 
vanilla, [map] 446; wheat, [map] 
38; workers in Packingtown, 
219, [map] 204 

coffee: 369, 375; area, [map] 380; 
exported to United States, 376. 

Michigan: canned goods, 318; 
cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- 
tion, 148; garden truck, 507; 
harvest time, 37; melons, 509; 
vineyards, 116, 117. 

Middle West, garden truck, 507. 

Milk: annual commerce in United 
States, 146; bottling, 152, [illus.] 
155, [illus.] 157; canned, 316, 
332; certified, 157; dehydrated, 
359, [illus.] 360; evaporating, 
332, 361, [illus.] 333; from vari- 
ous animals, 146; house on 
model dairy farm, 151; inspec- 
tor, 154, 158, 362; malted, tab- 



loid, 359; pasteurized, 153; pow- 
dered, 361; testing, 154, [illus.] 
169 

condensed: 332, 361; rank of each 
state in output, [map] 148. 

Milk-bottling plants: precautions 
taken in, 155; trip through, 
156. 

Milking machine, electric, on 
modern dairy farm, [illus.] 150. 

Milkweed, use of, 130. 

Mill: electric power, 57; family, 
56; flouring, ancient types, 55, 
[illus.] 56, [illus.] 57; flouring, 
modern types, 53, 59, [illus.] 54; 
public, 56; state, 56; steam- 
power, 57; sugar, unloading cane 
at, [illus.] 429; water-driven, 57; 
wind-, 57; wind-, of Dutch type 
[illus.] 58. 

Millet: 71; a field of, [illus.] 70. 

Milling: in ancient Egypt, 55; in 
Manchuria, [illus.] 57; in Pales- 
tine, [illus.] 56; of flour, 53; 
with quern, 56; with saddle-stone 
grinder, 55; oxen used for, 56; 
slaves used for, 56. 

Minneapolis: flour mills, group of, 
[illus.] 54; water power for mill- 
ing, [illus.] 59. 

Minnesota: canned goods, 319; 
cereals, [map] 62; cranberry 
industry, 120; dairy production, 
[map] 148; fish, 30; fish, winter- 
caught, 278; harvest time, 37, 
39; oats, 66. 

Mocha, coffee port, 369, [map] 380. 

"Mocha" coffee, origin of, 369. 

Mock turtle soup, dehydrated, 
358. 

Molasses: 12, 432, 434; special 
cars for, 25. 

Molucca Islands, and Portuguese 
possession, 448. 

Mombasa, cayenne pepper, 454. 

Montana: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; harvest 
time, 38; sheep range, [illus.] 235. 

Montasio cheese, 186. 

Mount Hymettus, honey region, 
190, [map] 176. 



THE INDEX 



533 



Muskellunge, in Chicago market, 

257. 
Muscat raisins, 351. 
Mush, 13, 65, 78. 
Mushrooms : canned, from France, 

320; dehydrated, [illus.] 360; 

powdered, 362; wild, from 

France, 467. 
Muskmelon, 120. 
Musk tomato, 132. 
Mustard: 12; grinder in cannery, 

329; leaves, 130; seed, 442. 
Mutton: 229; cold, in delicatessen, 

472; relative cost of, 253. 

Nairobi: trade routes, [map] 20; 
transportation, 35; wheat hauled 
to market, [illus.] 34. 

Narbonne: dairy center, [map] 
176; honey, 190. 

Nasturtium seed culture in Hol- 
land, 144. 

Natal: cane, at sugar mill, [illus.] 
429; tea culture in, 393, [map] 
380. 

Nebraska: cereals, [map] 62; 
dairy production, [map] 148; 
harvest time, 37. 

Nectarines: 93; drying, 347. 

Netherlands: "brisling," 272; but- 
ter factory, [illus.] 160; butter- 
making, 162; cabbage, 144; 
canning industry, 320; cauli- 
flower, 144; coffee countries 
owned, 375; dairy area, [map] 
176; harvest time, 39; herring, 
259; mackerel, 268; onions, bot- 
tled, 453; oysters, 299, 310; 
sardellen, 268; seed growing, 
143, 144; spice market, 445; 
success in "Dutch thorough- 
ness," 144; wheat, [map] 38; 
wheat exported to, 46, 48 

cheese: 170, 186; Edam, 171; 
Gouda, 186; imported annu- 
ally from, 186. 

New England: fishing, [map] 266; 
harvest time, 39; maple sugar 
camp, [illus.] 440. 

New Jersey: cereals, [map] 62; 
cranberry industry, 120; dairy 



production, [map] 148; straw- 
berries, canned, 318. 

New Mexico: cereals, [map] 62; 
dairy production, [map] 148; 
Indian farming, 45. 

New South Wales: harvest time, 
38; wheat, [map] 39. 

New York State: cereals, [map] 62; 
cheese, production, 166; cran- 
berry industry, 120; dairy pro- 
duction, [map] 148; English 
walnut orchard, [illus.] 416, 417; 
fish, fresh-water, 257; fruits, 
canned, 318; garden truck, 507; 
"grape belt," 116; harvest time, 
37; peaches, brandied, 465; 
quinces, 96; vineyards, 117. 

New Zealand: apples, [map] 94; 
fishing, [map] 266; harvest 
time, 37; honey, 193; meat 
consumption, 232; meat produc- 
tion, 206; mutton surplus, 206; 
stock raising, 205, 231. 

Newfoundland: bloaters, 261; cod- 
fish, 270; fishing banks, [map] 
266; herring, 260. 

Niagara, fruit farm, [illus.] 122. 

Nicaragua, cocoa, [map] 380. 

Nickol and his Christmas ham, 
story of, 221-223. 

Nile, wheat in valley of, 40. 

Noodle soup from China, 471. 

North Carolina: cereals, [map] 62; 
dairy production, [map] 148; 
harvest time, 37; soy beans, 
244. 

North Dakota: cereals, [map] 62; 
dairy production, [map] 148; 
harvest time, 39; oats, quality 
of, 66; winter-caught fish, 278. 

North Pacific coast, oysters, 
310. 

North Sea, herring, 259. 

Northwestern lakes, fish, 257. 

Norway: anchovy, 272; barley 
harvest, [illus.] 69; cheese mak- 
ing, 169, 170; dairy area, [map] 
176; fishing village, [illus.] 260; 
harvest time, 39; mackerel, 268; 
meat balls, potted, 470; oysters, 
299; ptarmigan from, 470; 



534 



THE INDEX 



sardines, 265; stockfish, dried, 
259; wheat, [map] 38; workers in 
Packingtuwn, 219, [map] 204 

herring: 262; from fjords, 259, 
[map] 266; exported to United 
States, 259. 

Nova Scotia: codfish, 270; fisher 
boys, 249; fishing banks, [map] 
266; herring, 261; lobsters, 274; 
mackerel, 268. 

Nutmeg: 12; countries producing, 
452; fruit, 442; preparation, 451; 
tree, 451, [illus.] 452. 

Nutmeg melon, 120. 

Nuts: Brazil, cargo of, [illus.] 420; 
butters from, 425, 497; coffee 
jrom, 427; cultivation of, 414; 
exports, annual, 417; fritters, 
427; home-grown, 13; impor- 
tance as food, 412,413; oils from, 
238, 243; pioneer's food, 412; 
producing areas, 417, [map] 
446; products, 425; substitutes 
for cereals, 426, 427. 

Oases of Sahara: dates, preparing 
in, [illus.] 486; fruits, 107. 

Oats: 65, 84; annually consumed, 
65; breakfast food, 65, 81; 
bunch of, [illus.] 79; canned, 
story of, 81; cleaning machines, 
82; exports, 66; field, [illus.] 66, 
[illus.] 85; hulling, 83; imports, 
67; keeping qualities, 85; kiln- 
drying, 82; labeling, 84; pack- 
ing, 84; poultry food, 198; pro- 
duction, 66; rolled, 83; Russian, 
66; steaming, 83; sterilizing, 84; 
stock food, 65; testing, 81. 

Ocean trade routes, [map] 20. 

Odessa: wheat market, [illus.] 
47, Black Sea port, [map] 38. 

Ohio: canned goods, 319; cereals, 
[map] 62; dairy production, 
[map] 148; harvest time, 37; 
salt works, [illus.] 459; vine- 
yards, 116, 117. 

Oil: corn, 63, 244; cottonseed, see 
Cottonseed oil; edible, fruits 
yielding, 238; edible, seeds yield- 
ing, 238; neatsfoot, 226; neutral, 



[table] 227; nut, varieties, 243; 
oleo, [table] 227; olive, see Olive 
oil; peanut, 243, 425; soy bean, 
238, 244; vegetable, 238, [table] 
227. 

Oil cake: cottonseed, 241; soy 
bean, 245. 

Old Government Javas, 369. 

Oleo oil, 227. 

Oleomargarine: 226; annual pro- 
duction, 227; formula, [table] 
227; nut oils, 243; soy bean oil, 
245. 

Olive farcies, 466. 

Olive oil: extraction, 238; impor- 
tations, 238, 239, 240; substi- 
tutes, 243, 245. 

Olive orchard, Fresno, [illus.] 102. 

Olives: display, [illus.] 464; dried, 
345; grading, 494-497; green, 
101; in ancient history, 102; 
origin, 102; packing, 494-497, 
[illus.] 496; ripe, 101; Spanish, 
in hogsheads, [illus.] 495. 

Olive press of ancient Romans, 
[illus.] 239. 

Olive trees: age of, 102; bearing, 
238. 

Omaha, packing center, 220. 

Oncorhynchus, salmon, 283. 

Onions: 13, 127, 336; canned, 
with beef, 320; dehydrated, 358, 
359; from Holland, 466; harvest 
of, [illus.] 126; in France, 143; 
in truck garden, [illus.] 138. 

Ontario: harvest time, 39; wheat, 
[map] 38. 

Oolong tea, countries, 385. 

Orange blossoms, honey from, 
189. 

Orange countries, 97. 

Orange groves in California, 
[illus.] 98. 

Orange pekoe, 397. 

Oranges: 12, 100, 508; from Cali- 
fornia, 87; varieties, 98; world's 
areas, [map] 94. 

Oregon: berries, dried, 355; cere- 
als, [map] 62; cranberries, 120; 
dairy production, [map] 148; 
fruits, 318, 346; harvest time, 



THE INDEX 



535 



37; prunes, 349; rivers, salmon 
in, 283; salmon hatcheries, 287. 

Osage muskmelon, 120, 509. 

Oxford sheep, 202. 

Oyster beds: American, 309; at 
Cancale, [illus.] 301; closing of, 
304; planted, [illus.] 305. 

Oyster fleet, [illus.] 300. 

Oysters: 257; American, abroad, 
299; early cultivation, 303; ene- 
mies, 307, [illus.] 308; farming, 
302, 304, 310; fishing grounds, 
[map] 266; forcing, 307; growing, 
305, 306; production in different 
countries, 299; ready for plant- 
ing, [illus.] 307; shipping, 312; 
spats of, [illus.] 306; special cars 
for, 25; stockade for breeding, 
[illus.] 303, [illus.] 310; tonging 
for, [illus.] 311. 

Pacific coast states: crabs from, 
259; frozen halibut from, [illus.] 
250; value of salmon output, 
297. 

Packing industry: 207; distribu- 
tion of products, 221. 

Packingtown : branch houses, 221; 
meats for world, 217; workers, 
native countries of, 219, [map] 
204; see also Union Stockyards. 

Palestine: ancient methods of 
harvesting, 43; plowing on the 
plains of, [illus.] 41; women 
grinding with quern, [illus.] 56. 

Palm, date: in the desert, 106, 107; 
uses of, 107. 

Pampas: hauling wheat across, 
[illus.] 49; meat production, 201. 

Panama: bananas, 87; fruit region, 
[map] 94. 

Papago Indian woman grinding 
corn, [illus.] 60. 

Papaya, 112. 

Papia, 112. 

Paprika: from Hungary, 455, 466; 
from Spain, 455. 

Para nuts: see Brazil nuts. 

Paradise nut, 419. 

Paris: distributing market, [map] 
176; packing-house branch, 211, 



map] 204; soy bean bread in, 
129. 

Parmesan cheese, 177. 

Parsley: 127; development of, 
139. 

Parsnips, 127. 

Partridges, 199. 

Pastries: fancy, 465, [illus.] 507; 
delicatessen, 473. 

Pasteurizing milk and cream, 153, 
156. 

Pates de foie gras: 470; made in 
America, 470. 

Patras, dried currants, 354. 

Pawpaw, 112. 

"Peaberry coffee", 370. 

Peaches: 92, 93, 507; brandied, 
465; dehydrated, 359, 36*0; 
dried, 12, 92; drying, 347, 
[illus.] 344; orchard, [illus.] 92; 
peeling, 328; preparation for 
canning, 324; preserving, 328, 
[illus.] 498. 

Peanut oil: 238, 425; uses of, 243; 
African, 243. 

Peanuts: 13, 418, 508; annual ex- 
ports, 417; annual imports, 417; 
areas, [map] 446; family, 421; 
field, 417, [illus.] 426; in coffee 
substitutes, 411; production in 
United States, 243, 421; prod- 
ucts from, 421, 422. 

Pears: 91, 336; dehydrated, 359; 
drying, 347; extract, 364; pick- 
ing, [illus.] 91; preparation for 
canning, 324; wild, varieties, 91. 

Peary Land, 338. 

Peas: 127, 134, 336; canned, 137, 
319, 320, 466; dehydrated, 359; 
English, 142; harvesting, [illus.] 
314; in coffee substitutes, 411; 
preparation for canning, 324, 
[illus.] 317; seed culture in Eng- 
land, 142. 

Pecans: 418, 508, [illus.] 413; 
areas, [map] 446; orchards, 417; 
paper-shelled, 415, 416. 

"Pekoe", 397. 

Penang: cinnamon, 453; nutmegs, 
452; pepper, 454; spices, 445, 
449; spice port [map] 446. 



536 



THE INDEX 



Pepper: 12, 358, [map] 446; im- 
ported annually, 445, 456; 
native island, 447; varieties, 
454, 455. 

Pepino, 112. 

Perch, 257, 278. 

Perigord: dairy area, [map] 176; 
truffles, 468. 

Periwinkles, 257. 

Persimmons: dried, 345; varieties, 
102. 

Persia: cherry, native of, 96; 
coffee country, [map] 380; dates, 
87, 345; date-nut butter, 465; 
date palm, uses of, 107; fruit 
regions, [map] 94; harvest time, 
37; pomegranate, 103. 

Peru: ancient, cocoa used in, 402; 
ancient, tomato known to, 133; 
cocoa, [map] 380; coconuts, 
[map] 446; fruit, [map] 94; 
Guiana maize, 71; harvest time, 
39. 

Petrograd, 221, [map] 204. 

Pheasants: 199; English, flock of, 
[illus.] 200. 

Philippine Islands: coconuts, [map] 
446; coffee, [map] 380; fishing, 
[map] 266; hauling rice, [illus.] 
73; spices, 445; sugar, 429, 439; 
transportation, 35. 

Pickerel, 257, 278. 

Pickles: 497; display, [illus.] 464; 
cucumber, 330; from England. 
320; manufacture of, 328; melon 
d'Orpagon, 122; special cars for 
shipping, 25; watermelon, 120. 

Pigeon-breeding yard, [illus.] 198. 

Pignolia: see Pinons. 

Pigweed, use of, 130. 

Pike, 257, 278. 

Pilchard, 265. 

Pimiento: 466; with anchovies, 
320; with olives, 497. 

Pineapple: canned, 317, 318, 337; 
native countries of, 114, 115; 
plantation, [illus.] 115. 

Pine nuts: see Pinons. 

Pinons, 414, 419. 

Pistachio, 418. 

Plantain, 112. 



Plowing: camel used, [illus.] 41; 
elephant used, 45. 

Plums: cultivated, 93; drying, 347; 
extract of, 364; native, 93. 

Plymouth, sea port, 381, [map] 380. 

Poland: dairy area, [map] 176; 
harvest time, 39; preserving 
food, 364; wheat area, 42. 

Poland China hog, [illus.] 215. 

Pollock, 271. 

Pomegranate melon, 122. 

Pomegranates: 103; products, 103; 
vender of, [illus.] 103. 

Pomelo, 100, 101. 

Pompano, 257. 

Pork: 13, 215, 229; canning, 326; 
delicatessen, 473. 

"Porridge", 65, 78. 

Porto Rico: manioc plant, 135 
sugar, 429. 

Portugal: dairy area, [map] 176 
figs, 356; grapes, 465; harvest 
time, 37;honey, 193;oysters, 299 
sardines, 265; spice trade, 448. 

"Pot", salmon, 291. 

Potatoes: 12, 127, 509; canned, 
338; dehydrated, 359; food ele- 
ments, 76; Irish, 135; related 
plants, 128; seed, field of, [illus.] 
143; shipment, 25; sugar in, 441; 
sweet, 134. 

Poultry: annually consumed, 194; 
feeding stations, 196; milk for, 
153; potted, 320; raising, 194; 
[illus.] 195; shipment of, 25. 

Prairie chicken, 199. 

Preserving peaches, 328, [illus. ]498. 

Prickly pear: 113; field of, [illus.] 
113. 

Protein, food, 252. 

Provincial dried currants, 354. 

Prune plums, 95, 346. 

Prunes: 12, 349; drying, 341, 347; 
"facing," 483; paste of, 364; 
preparation for market, 481, 
[illus.] 482. 

Ptarmigan, 470. 

Puddings: "hasty," 13, 61; of 
millet, 71; of rice, 77. 

Puerto Limon: banana market, 28; 
trade route from, [map] 20. 



THE INDEX 



537 



Puget Sound: fishing, [map] 266; 

Oncorhynehus, 283; salmon, 

297; trout, 257. 
Pulo-Penang, spices, 
Pumpkins, 127. 
Pumpernickel, 68. 
Purse seiners: [illus.] 289; salmon 

caught by, 290. 
Purslane, 130. 

Quail, 199. 

Quebec (province) : harvest time, 

37; honey, 187; wheat, [map] 38. 
Quern, ancient milling with, 56, 

[illus.] 56. 
Queso de Cincho, 186. 
Quince, Bengal, 101. 
Quince, food uses, 96. 

Radishes: 127, 143; seed, develop- 
ment, 139, 142. 

Raisin grapes, drying, 342, [illus.] 
350. 

Raisins: 12; box, [illus.] 351; clean- 
ing, 484; countries producing, 
345, 350; drying, 347, 351; pack- 
ing, 352, [illus.] 353; seeding, 
352, 484; stemming, [illus.] 352; 
varieties of, 351; yield of, 116, 
350, 354. 

Raisin sugar, 441. 

Rampion, 130. 

Raspberries: 118; dehydrated, 
359; dried, 354. 

Red fish, 257. 

Red snapper, 257. 

Reindeer: 35; milk of, 146; milk 
used for cheese, 185. 

Relishes: 497; dehydrated, 358. 

Retailer, varied services of, 501- 
515. 

Rhode Island: cereals, [map] 62; 
dairy production of, [map] 148; 
oyster farms, 304. 

Rhubarb: 127; canned, 336, 338; 
dehydrated, 359. 

Rice: 13, 71; annual production, 
72; flour, 77; food value of, 76; 
hauling, in the Philippines, 
[illus.] 73; imported annually, 
72; in coffee substitutes, 410; 



meal, 77; preparations, 77; 
stones for hulling, [illus.] 77; 
supplement to wheat, 48; trans- 
porting, [illus.] 32; various uses 
of, 77; volume of crop, 71; 
wholesome form, 77; yield, 73, 
74 

cultivation: field, [illus.] 71, [illus.] 
72, [illus.] 74; in China, 74; in 
Orient, 74; in United States, 
72, 75. 

Rice-polishing machine, [illus.] 76. 

Rock salt, loading, [illus.] 460. 

Rockyford cantaloupe, 121. 

Rocky Mountain fish, 257. 

Roe: of herring, 261; salted, of 
sturgeon, 272. 

Rome, Ancient: barley, 69; grana- 
ries, 40; milling, 55, 57; olive 
press, [illus.] 239. 

Roquefort cheese: curing, [illus.] 
172; fine sample of, [illus.] 174; 
legend as to origin of, 174; 
manufacture, ancient, 171. 

Rosebuds: brandied, 465; pre- 
served, 471. 

Rose leaves, preserved, 471. 

Roselle, 120. 

Roumania, harvest time, 37. 

Roundfish, Italian, 270. 

Russia: using ancient agricultural 
methods, 41; apple regions, 
[map] 94; apples exported to, 
91; barley crop, 70; caviar, 273, 
465; coffee-consuming area, 
[map] 380; fishing, [map] 266; 
fruits, dried, 345; harvesting in, 
43; harvest times, 37, 39; honey, 
193; meat, 201, 206; oats, 66; 
oysters, 299, 300; rye, 67, 68; 
salt fields in, 461; sardines, 262; 
sugar beets, 435; tea-consum- 
ing area of, [map] 380, see also 
Tea; trade routes through, 
[map] 20; wheat, 41, 42, [map] 
38; wheat, annual exportation 
of, 47. 

Rye: 67; coffee, 13; flakes, 68; food 
value, 68; harvest, [illus.] 68; in 
coffee substitutes, 410; produc- 
tion, 67. 



538 



THE INDEX 



Saddle stone, 55. 

Sago, 12. 

Sahara: dates, preparing for mar- 
ket, [illus.] 486; fruits, [map] 94. 

St. Anthony Falls, water power, 
58, [illus.] 59. 

St. Thomas, cocoa, 404. 

Salad: 473; avocado, [illus.] 109; 
canned, 316; dehydrated, 358; 
"International," [illus.] 8; "In- 
ternational," articles used for, 
[illus.] 466; vegetables for, 130. 

Salad dressings, 328, 497. 

Salad oil, from cotton seed, 241. 

Salami, 465. 

Saleratus, 12. 

Salmo, 283. 

Salmon: 256, 282; brailing, [illus.] 
292; cannery, [illus.] 248; can- 
ning, 293; catch, 292; distribu- 
tion of, 297; fishing, 288, [map] 
266; food for armies, 298; food 
value, 253; hatcheries, 287; in- 
dustry, 297; feeding to "Iron 
Chink," [illus.] 295; load, [illus.] 
294; Oncorhynchus, 283; "pot," 
[illus.] 291; packing, [illus.] 296; 
preserving, 296; purse seining, 
290; trolling, [illus.] 288. 

Salmon stream, [illus.] 284. 

Salmon trout, 283. 

Salsify, 135. 

Salt: 13, 457; beds, [illus.] 461; 
distribution, 457; history, 461; 
imported in one year, 462; load- 
ing, [illus.] 460; marshes, 460; 
mines, 461; obtaining, 458; 
ocean supply of, 459; plant, 
[illus.] 459; rock, 459; solar, 459; 
wells, 460. 

Salt Lake City, salt beds, [illus.] 
461. 

Salvador, coffee, 369. 

Sandabs, 257. 

San Francisco Bay: oyster stock- 
ade, [illus.] 310; tonging for 
oysters, [illus.] 311. 

Santos: coffee market, [map] 380; 
loading coffee ship, [illus.] 367. 

Sao Paulo: coffee market, [map] 
380; drying coffee, [illus.] 376. 



Sapodilla, 111. 

Sardellen: 267; paste, 259. 

Sardines: canned, 320; fisheries, 
[illus.] 264, [map] 266; prepara- 
tion, 264, 265, 267; Russian, 262. 

Saskatchewan: harvest time, 39; 
wheat, [map] 38. 

Sauces: 465, 497; canned, 316, 
320. 

Saucisson de foie gras, 471. 

Sausage: Bohemian, 465; domes- 
tic, 472; potted, 320; stuffing 
casings, [illus.] 216; with chest- 
nuts, 320. 

Scallops, 257. 

Scandinavia: codfish, 271; coffee- 
consuming area, 375; fishing, 
[map] 266; tea-consuming area, 
[map] 380; wheat, 46, [map] 38. 

"Schweitzer-kase", 168. 

Scotland: harvest time, 39; her- 
ring, 250; honey, 190. 

"Scrubs", of meat, 214. 

Sea bass, 257. 

Sea foods, packing, [illus.] 256. 

Seattle, canned goods, 318. 

Seaweed, edible, 257. 

Seed: cotton plant, products from, 
241; cultivation in European 
countries, 138-144; oils from, 
238; sugar-beet, 141; vegetable, 
cultivation of, 138. 

Separator, cream: advantages of, 
149; in a modern dairy, [illus.] 
147; use in butter making, 160. 

Serbia: dairy area, [map] 176; 
fruits, [map] 94; prunes, 349. 

Shad: 257; fishing, [map] 266. 

Shallot, 130. 

Sheep: breeds, 202; head of, in 
various countries, 229, 231, 233; 
inspection of, government, 215; 
ranch, [illus.] 232; range, [illus.] 
235; shipment of, 25, 215. 

Sheepshead, 257. 

Sheep's milk: for cheeses, 146, 165, 
172, 177; for food, 146. 

Shipment: care in, 23; fast freight, 
24; of oysters, 312; of perishable 
foods, device for, [illus.] 27; of 
tea, [illus.] 384; of wheat, 46; 



THE INDEX 



539 



by "passenger express refrig- 
erator," 23, [illus.] 24; special 
cars for small, 26. 

Shorthorn cattle, 202. 

Shoyu, 246. 

Shrimps: canned, 337; fishing, 
[map] 266; from the Gulf, 257. 

Shropshires, 202. 

Siberia: American farm machin- 
ery, 42; dairy area, [map] 176; 
fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 
39; reaping in, [illus.] 42; salmon 
canneries, 298; story of little 

• Nickol of, 221. 

Sicily: dairy area, [map] 176; 
fruits, [map] 94; prickly pear, 
113; sugar cane, 429. 

Sickle, harvesting with, 36, 43, 
[illus.] 43. 

Sierra Leone, cayenne pepper, 454. 

Sifter, for tea, [illus.] 396. 

Silo, [illus.] 64. 

Singapore: spice port, [map] 446; 
wharf at, [illus.] 443. 

Sirup: 13; cane, 433; corn, 65, 244; 
maple, 498; pomegranate, 103. 

Skager-Rak: [map] 176; mackerel, 
268. 

"Sloak", preparation of, 258. 

Sloe, see Plum. 

Smyrna: figs, 104, 105, [illus.] 
355, [illus.] 480; fruit center, 
[map] 94; raisins, 350. 

Sockeye salmon, 283. 

Somersetshire, cheese, 184. 

Sorrel, 130, 470. 

"Souchong", 397. 

Soups: 473; barley, 70; birds'- 
nest, 471; canned, 316, 320; 
dehydrated, 358; rice, 77. 

Sour sop, 112. 

South Africa: fruits, [map] 94; 
oysters, Chesapeake Bay, 300; 
stock raising, 205, 206; tea, 393. 
South America : coffee-producing 
area, 370, [map] 380; cotton, 
242; dried fruits exported to, 
345; manioc root, 136; meat 
production of, 202, 206; nut- 
megs, 453; nuts imported from, 
417; paradise nut from, 419; 



pineapples, 114; stock raising in, 
205; sugar cane, 429. 

South Dakota: cereals, [map] 62; 
dairy production, [map] 148; har- 
vest time in, 39; oats, quality, 
66. 

South Sea Islands: sorting cinna- 
mon, [illus.] 491; spice planta- 
tions, 447. 

Soy bean: 128, 246; home-grown, 
244; oil, 238, 244, 245; oil cake, 
245; shipments in Manchuria, 
[illus.] 129. 

Spaghetti, 50. 

Spain: almonds, [map] 446; apri- 
cot pulp from, 466; cocoa, 
404; coffee-consuming area, 
[map] 380; dates, 107; figs, 356; 
fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 
94; grapes, 117, 465; harvest 
time in, 37; olives in pipes, 
[illus.] 495; olive oil, 238, 240; 
oyster production, 299; pea- 
nuts, 421, [map] 446; pimientos, 
466; prunes,. 95; raisins, 345, 
354; salt, 462; spices, 445; 
tangerines, 466; truffles, 468; 
wheat, [map] 38; wine, 118. 

Spanish bayonet, 112. 

"Spat", oyster: 303; on a stone, 
[illus.] 306. 

Spices: [map] 446; ancient luxury, 
442; climate for, 445; fruit 
yielding two, 451; grinder, 491; 
grinding, 454; growing, 450; in 
packing room, [illus.] 455; in 
wholesale house, 490; markets, 
444, 445; trade, perils of the, 
442, 448; why costly, 450; 
amount of year's imports, 445. 

Spice Islands, 448. 

Spinach: canned, 466; dehydrated, 
359; leaves, 130; preparation, 28. 

Spoonbills, roe of, 273. 

Spring wheat, 53. 

Squash: 127, 134; canned, keeping 
qualities of, 337, 339. 

Starches, from corn, 63, 244. 

Starfish: 307, 308; attacking oys- 
ter, [illus.] 308. 

Steak, sirloin, relative cost of, 253. 



540 



THE INDEX 



Steppes, Russian: meat produc- 
tion, 201; wheat, [map] 38. 

Steppes, Siberian: American farm 
machinery, 42; reaping on, 
[illus.] 42. 

Sterilization: machine, for milk, 
[illus.] 153; of food, 315; of oats, 
84; tank, in packing house, 
[illus.] 218. 

Sterilized bottles, filling, with 
milk, [illus.] 155. 

Stilton cheese, 184. 

Stock: feed for, 64, 65, 226, 241, 
244, 245; pedigreed, 205; raising, 
in South Africa, 205, 206. 

Stockfish, 259, 270. 

Stockyards: see Packingtown; 
Union Stockyards. 

Storage: in cave, [illus.] 173; of 
wheat, 46, 50 

cold: for butter, [illus.] 161; for 
fish, [illus.] 250, [illus.] 280; for 
poultry, 199. 

Straits Settlements: manioc plant, . 
135; spices, 445; wharf at 
Singapore, [illus.] 443. 

Strawberries: 118, 318; dehy- 
drated, 359; Mexican, 113; 
plants, [illus.] 118. 

Strawberry pear, 114. 

Striped bass, 257. 

Sturgeon: fishing, [map] 266; 
"great white," caviar, 273; roe 
from, 272. 

Sugar: 12; beet, 436; cane, 429; 
consumed annually, 438, 439; 
corn, 63; importation of, 438; 
kinds, 434; maple, 439; milk, 
146; plants producing, 441; pre- 
historic use of, 428; preservative, 
315; production, 438; pulver- 
ized, 492; raisin, 441; raw, 429; 
refining, 433; rock, 434; schools 
for making, 435. 

Sugar beets: 436, 437; at Kansas 
factory, [illus.] 436; cultivating, 
[illus.] 435; in European coun- 
tries, 435; industry in France, 
143; industry in the United 
States, 436; seed farms, 436; 
seeds, cultivation of, 141. 



Sugar cane: at factory, [illus.] 432; 
crusher, [illus.] 431; early culti- 
vation, 428; loading cars, [illus.] 
430, [illus.] 438; unloading, 
[illus.] 429. 

Sultana raisins: importation of, 
352; Turkish, 354. 

Sumatra: coffee, 369, 375, [map] 
380; fishing, [map] 266; pepper, 
454; spices, [map] 446. 

Summerville , tea garden, 384, 392. 

Sunfish, 257. 

Sunken garden, seed growing, 143. 

Sunken Gardens, dates from, 107. 

Swallows' nest, edible birds' nest, 
[illus.] 471. 

Sweden: dairy area, [map] 176; 
harvest time in, 39; sugar-beet 
culture, 435. 

Sweet corn, 137. 

Sweet potatoes, 127, 134. 

Sweet sop, 112. 

Swine: see Hogs. 

Swiss chard, 130. 

Swiss cheese: sec Switzerland. 

Switzerland: cows for farm work, 
181, [illus.] 182; harvest time, 
37; herd, [illus.] 180, [illus.] 183; 
honey, 193, 467; wheat, [map] 
38; workers in Packingtown, 
219, [map] 204 

cheese: domestic, 166, 168; im- 
ported, 169, 178, 186; makers 
in Wisconsin, 166 

lake dwellers: barley used by, 69; 
saddle-stone mills, 55: wheat, 
grown, 40. 

Syria: ancient, agriculture, 41; 
ancient, wooden plow, 44; har- 
vest time in, 37; sugar cane, 
428; wheat, 40, [map] 38. 

Tabasco, home of, 455. 

Tabebuia nut, 421. 

Table drinks, 402. 

Taiwan: rice crops, 74; sugar cane, 

429 
tea: 383, 384; oolong, 385. 
Tamarind, 128. 
Tamil, tea pickers in Ceylon, 393, 

[illus.] 476. 



THE INDEX 



541 



Tamworth, 203, [illus.] 215. 

Tangerines, 98, 466. 

Tapioca: 135; preparation, 136. 

Tea: 12; areas, [map] 380; coloring. 
Read test for, 398; consumption 
of, 383, 384; -consuming areas 
of the world, [map] 380; curing, 

387, 388, 389, 394, 401; curling, 
389, 395; drying, 388; exporting 
countries, [map] 380; "facings," 
399; "fannings," 397; firing, 

388, 389; flowers, [illus.] 382; 
Imperial Estate, 397; import- 
ing countries, [map] 380; inspec- 
tion of, government, 19, 398, 
400; journey, 17; leaves, [illus.] 
382; loading, [illus.] 18, [illus.] 
384; packing, [illus.] 400; pick- 
ing, [illus.] 476, [illus.] 386, 393; 
plant, [illus.] 382; production, in 
United States, 384; quality of, 
testing, 399; seeds, [illus.] 382; 
sifting, [illus.] 390; sorting, 389, 
[illus.] 395, [illus.] 396; spread- 
ing leaves, [illus.] 388; spread- 
ing the use of, 382; steaming, 
[illus.] 379; tablets, 362; tradi- 
tions, 382; transplanting, [illus.] 
391 

black: 387; countries producing, 
385; curing, 394; production in 
Japan, 387; withering, 395 

blends: labeling, [illus.] 493; 
special, 492; work of whole- 
saler, 492-494 

culture: early attempts, 389, 390, 
391, 392; Russian, on Imperial 
Domains, 397 

garden: 383; in Ceylon, 18, 393, 
[illus.] 394; Japanese, 385; Sum- 
merville, 384, 392, [map] 380; 
Tamil pickers, 393 

green: 387; countries producing, 
385; curing, 385, 388; tests for 
"facings," 399 

transportation: 22, 381; hauling, in 
Ceylon, [illus.] 17. 

Tea (beverage) : 378, 473; bouquet, 
379, 399; brewing in govern- 
ment way, 401; consumers, 384, 
[map] 380; cups per pound, 379; 



drinking, in Russia, [illus.] 397; 
purest, 379, 400. 

Tennessee: cereals, [map] 62; 
dairy production, [map] 148; 
harvest time, 37; soy bean in, 
244. 

Terrapin, 275. 

Texas: cereals, [map] 62; dairy 
production, [map] 148; figs, 104, 
356; garden truck, 507; harvest 
time, 37; longhorn cattle, 202; 
rice, 72; rice field, [illus.] 71; 
spinach, 28. 

Threshing: in Egypt, [illus.] 44; 
in India with flail, 45. 

Thyroid tablets, 226. 

Tibet: honey, 192; tea, [map] 380. 

Tigris River: pomegranate vender, 
[illus.] 103; wheat, 40, [map] 38. 

Tomato bisque, dehydrated, 358. 

Tomato contests, 340. 

Tomatoes: 127, 128, 509, 510; and 
sweet corn, prize, [illus.] 137; 
at cannery, [illus.] 133; canned, 
133, 137, 319, 336; canning, 
government demonstration of, 
[illus.] 340; conveyors for, [illus.] 
325; dehydrated, 358; harvest- 
ing, [illus.] 323; origin of, 133; 
paste, 466; varieties of, 132. 

Tonging for oysters, [illus.] 311. 

Tractors, used in Russia, 43. 

Trade routes, maritime, [map] 20. 

Transportation : lines of the world, 
[map] 20; of foods, 17-35. 

Trap fishing for salmon, 291, [illus.] 
291. 

Trebizond: [map] 176; honey, 190. 

Trinidad: cocoa, 404; coffee, [map] 
380; manioc plant, 135. 

Trolling for salmon, 288, [illus.] 288. 

Trout: 257; preparing for market, 
[illus.] 279; summer-caught, 278. 

Truck garden, commercial, [illus.] 
138. 

Truffles: canned, 320; French 
women cleaning, [illus.] 469; 
hunting, 467, [illus.] 468. 

Tuna: catching, 263; fishing, 
[map] 266; marketing, 263; prep- 
aration of, 263, 264. 



542 



THE INDEX 



Tunny: 263, 471; fishing, [map] 
266. 

Turkey: coffee-consuming area, 
[map] 380; dates, 345; figs, 87, 
104, 105; harvest time in, 37; 
honey, 193; nuts, 419; pome- 
granates, 103; prunes, 95, 349; 
raisins, 345, 350; sultanas, 354. 

Turkeys: [illus.] 197; wild, 199. 

Turnips: 13; canned, 337, 406; 
leaves, 130; seed, culture in 
England, 142. 

Turtle: family, 276; fishing, [map] 
266; sea, 257. 

Tuscany: dairy area, [map] 176; 
nuts, preparation of, 427. 

Ubi tanah, 135. 

Unicorn plant, 132. 

Union Stockyards of Chicago: 209; 

unloading at, [illus.] 210; work- 
ers at, native countries of, 219, 
[map] 204. 

United Kingdom: cottonseed oil, 
exports, 242; cottonseed oil, im- 
ports, 242; meats, 234; wheat 
imported, 46, 48. 

United States Department of 
Agriculture : home-canning en- 
couraged by, 339, 340; meat 
statistics of, 228-337. 

United States government fish 
hatcheries, 287. 

Uruguay: coffee-consuming area, 
[map] 380; meat, 206. 

Vaakerfisk, 270. 

Veal: 13; canned, 320; loaf, 473. 

Vegetable marrow, 134. 

Vegetable oils, 238-246, [table] 
227. 

Vegetable oyster, 135. 

Vegetables: 473; choice selection, 
[illus.] 125; dehydrated, 358, 
[table] 363; familiar, 127; families 
of, 127; greens, 130; in high- 
grade market, [illus.] 506; salads, 
from, 130; shipment, 24, 25, 28 

canned: 316; from European coun- 
tries, 320, 465, 466; healthful, 
337. 



Veldts of South Africa, 203. 

Venice: salt works, 461; sea port, 
[map] 176. 

Ventilator cars, loading, [illus.] 25. 

Vera Cruz, banana shipments, 28. 

Vermicelli, 50, 466. 

Verrieres, seed establishment, 143. 

Vinegar, 12. 

Virginia: canned fruits, 318; cere- 
als, [map] 62; dairy production, 
[map] 148; harvest time, 37; 
herring roe, 261; mackerel, 269. 

Vostizza: [map] 176; dried cur- 
rants, 354. 

Wales: Caerphilly cheese, 185; 
dairy area, [map] 176. 

Walnuts: 417, 508; black, 414; oil 
from, 243; paper-shelled, 415, 
416; pickled, 465; regions, [map] 
446 

English: 416, 417; area, [map] 446; 
orchard, [illus.] 416; shelling and 
grading, [illus.] 415. 

Wasp, immigrant, 105. 

Washington: canned strawberries, 
318; cereals, [map] 62; cranberry 
industry, 120; dairy production, 
[map] 148; dried berries, 355; 
evaporated fruit, 346; fishing, 
[map] 266; harvest time, 37; 
salmon fishing, 283; salmon 
hatcheries, 287. 

Water chestnut, 419. 

Watermelon: 120; patch, [illus.] 
120. 

West Indies: avocados, 505; bana- 
nas, 108; canned pineapple, 318; 
cocoa, 404, [map] 380; coconuts, 
[map] 446; coffee, 369, [map] 
380; dates, 107; fishing, [map] 
266; guava jelly, 465; lime 
gathering, [illus.] 100; nutmegs, 
452; nuts, 418; red pepper, 455. 

Westphalia: bacon, 465; hams, 
465. 

Wheat: 36-59; areas, [map] 38; 
ancient tombs containing, 40; 
bunch, of [illus.] 79; consumed 
annually, 47; crops, 46; cultiva- 
tion, 39, 45; elevator, 50; ex- 



THE INDEX 



543 



ports, 46, 47; field in Australia, 
[illus.] 52; government tests, 54; 
harvests of world, calendar of, 
37, 39; hauled to market, [illus.] 
34, [illus.] 49; origin, 40; poultry 
food, 198; shipping, 46, [illus.] 
47; threshing, 53; types, 54; 
supply and yield in the United 
States, 46, 48; used in coffee 
substitutes, 410. 

Whitefish: 13; summer-caught, 
278. 

Whiting, 253. 

Wholesaler: varied services of, 14, 
475-499; and retailer, 514. 

Wildfowl, 199, 200. 

Wine: annual imports, 118; coun- 
tries producing, 118; from pome- 
granates, 103. 

Winnipeg, Lake, winter-caught 
fish, 279. 

Winnipegosis, Lake, winter-Caught 
fish, 279. 



Winter cherry, 132. 

Winterfisk, 270. 

Wisconsin: canned goods, 319; 
cereals, [map] 62; cheese fac- 
tory, interior, [illus.] 165; cheese 
output, 166, 168; cranberry 
industry, 120; dairy production, 
[map] 148; harvest time, 37; 
oats, 66, [illus.] 66. 

Yam, 134. 

Yen wai, 472. 

Yezo, sardine fisheries, [illus.] 264. 

Yorkshire hogs, 203. 

Zanzibar: cloves, 449; cloves, 
picking, [illus.] 445; cocoa, [map] 
380; red pepper, 454. 

Zartfisk, 270. 

Zebu, draft animal, 43, 45. 

Zuider Zee: [map] 176; sardellen 
from, 268. 



